A golden Tribute
by nekoken
Summary: Ino, helps Naruto from some Injuries which cause her to start to wonder about the blond. Will this lead her into the biggest mystery of her life. Will she find out about Naruto and his past and or perhaps find something she has been looking all along
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes. Hey everyone this is my first story on FF. Net and I hope everyone likes it and reviews. I am a world class procrastinator so any and all reviews will hopefully get me to write on it sooner. So please read and let me know what you think and anything that I need to work on**

**Disclaimer. I Own nothing in regards to the characters and world of Naruto. I only claim rights to the original parts of this story and will not be making any money off of this fic so there**.

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A golden Tribute

Dark shades and golden hues basked the whole of Konoha in a seemingly euphoric scene that would have sent most painters running for their canvases, brushes, and paints. This was no different for the blue eyed, blond beauty that currently sat surrounded by a few dozen different kinds of flowers that she was ceremoniously placing into a large vase. She silently placed each flower into her growing masterpiece and smiled slightly as the color's meshed into the same hues of gold and yellow that were setting into the clouds outside her second home. Ino really loved working in her family flower shop, surrounded by the smells and the bright and colorful flowers that were all over. Ino thought that most people, in her opinion, never truly appreciated the simpler things in life and often over looked the smaller more delicate things that they would never have thought to have any value.

Her smile dimmed slightly as she heard the sound of the chime ringing at the front door. 'Who would be coming at this time?' she idly thought to herself. She was slightly shocked to see the bright orange color that she came to associate with a the normally bright blond from her academy. That smile vanished completely however, when she noticed the state the boy seemed to be in. He looked like he had been running for a long while and didn't even seem to realize she was there. She finally decided to see what was wrong after a few moments of silence when the blond boy finally turned. Gasping silently to herself in shock, as she saw blood all over the front of his cloths accompanied by large bruises and gashes that ran across his face and body. it looked like someone held him down, beaten him senseless, and then took a knife to his face and the parts of his body she could see . Her shock was soon replaced by horror when he passed out cold on the floor. "Naruto!" the blond yelled in shock as she rushed to the door of her shop.

It took her only a matter of seconds to get to him and check his vitals. Upon closer inspection she realized that he really was a complete mess. There didn't, however, seem to be any life threating wounds that she could tell. Gently flipping the boy over, she noticed a kunai sticking out his side. Seeing air bubbles mixing with blood every time he breathed, she realized in horror that it had punctured his lung and he was losing blood fast. Quickly removing the hard edged metal from his wound, she began a mid-level chuunin healing jutsu to not only slow the blood loss, but to also try and fix the damage to his lung. She silently thanked her mom for forcing the extra lessons on her. She pushed massive amounts of chakra into the wound, slowing the blood flow but not stopping it completely. Seconds later, it was all Ino could do to hold him in place and continue her work when he started to thrash about wildly and cough up blood. He finally hacked out a large amount of blood and then seemed to cease moving all together. Only the slight rising and falling of his chest kept Ino from freaking out too much.

She continued to work on the wound till the dark red liquid ceased coming from the gash under his arm. Ino was beginning to tire as she steadily depleted her chakra. She knew that she needed to get him to the hospital, but she wasn't sure how she could in her current state. Standing slowly, she staggered slowly up to her small room above the flower shop that was now like a second home to her. She had left her shinobi gear there after her third D-Rank mission since the academy. She knew there was some medical supplies in amongst her things and, hopefully, a few extra soldier pills.

As she staggered the last few feet to her supplies, she couldn't help but wounder how this could have happened to the unconscious young blond on the floor below. For Gods sake, they were in a freaking ninja village with guards and Anbu all over the place, So how on Earth could he, a fellow leaf ninja and protector of the village, have been so badly injured without anyone coming to his aid? Deciding she didn't like the answers coming to mind, she pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind and focused on the problem at had. Quickly checking her supplies she noticed with great relief that there were indeed still 2 soldier pills in her gear along with a few blood pills and bandages. She quickly grabbed one of the soldier pills and shoved it in to her mouth, feeling, with great relief, the effects taking place immediately. Energy flowed back into her diminished reserves, relieving her fatigue and sharpening her senses. She grabbed the rest of her supplies and all but flew back down the stair, hoping Naruto was still ok.

When she got to him, she sighed with relief as she noticed that his breathing seemed to be doing a little better and didn't seem as strained. Quickly pushing her relief aside, she force fed him two blood pills and the remaining soldier pill to help his recovery along. She then proceeded to work on bandaging his wounds for the long trek to the hospital. Ino was grateful that the worst seemed to be over.

Once she finished bandaging his more prominent wounds, she stooped down and, with little difficulty, hauled his smaller form onto her back and started out the door towards the hospital. She became grateful for his smaller form as the trek to the hospital in the growing dim light seemed to grow longer and longer. She was almost there and she knew needed to get him looked at fast, but the last few blocks to the hospital seemed to be up hill for Ino. Both figuratively and literally. Every step she took seemed to bring her closer and closer to letting her knee's buckle and surrendering to her growing exhaustion, but she pushed on, gritting her teeth in determination, finally making it to the hospital.

As she stumbled through the large double doors leading in the emergency room, she shouted to the closest medic Ninja she could see, who proceeded to rushed over to help at the sight of the trouble. The medic Ninja seemed to waver at the sight of the blond boy, before he grudgingly lifted him from Ino's back and led her farther into the hospital. She quickly filled the man in on the damage that she had found and what she had done to help alleviate his pain. The medic nodded slightly, but didn't even spare a glance at Naruto's wounds, which was really starting to confuse the new Shinobi. Medic Ninja were supposed to have been trained for just about anything and though this man did have the band of a medic on his arm, he seemed so apathetic, like he couldn't care less if the blond boy he was carrying was alright. As they reached the large double doors that led to the operating rooms, Ino was told that she would have to wait in the lobby and that she would be called when they had finished.

Nodding, Ino hauled herself over to the cushioned chairs of the waiting room where she sank into the plush fabric, letting her fatigued legs rest for the time being. She closed her eyes as she took comfort in the soft chair she was sitting on. Taking a couple deep breaths to calm herself, she opened her eyes and took her first real look around since she had entered the hospital. The waiting room she was in was a lot like the rest of the hospital, boring and white. Everything seemed to be white: the walls, the floor tiles, even the orchid that sat on the little off white table in a small clear vase. With a frown Ino was reminded of exactly why she hated hospitals. The lack of color, the smell of sick people, and the overbearing smell of disinfectant had always made her hate her stays while she had been younger.

Like the time when she had broken her leg while practicing jumping from tree to tree. She had been quite embarrassed about it. How many other ninja had broken a leg from just jumping from tree to tree? It was like an oxymoron, or maybe just a moron! She had been out of the academy for two weeks as her leg healed and she felt she never truly caught up to the rest of the group. Ino knew she was one of the weakest of the rookie nine and, while she would never admit it to anyone else, she knew she wasn't getting any better with her new teammates, Shikamaru and Choji. It had already been a week and a half since she graduated and they had been on three D-Rank missions that were nothing more then chores, in Ino's opinion. She had practically begged her two teammates to train with her but they never wanted to and their sensei, Asuma-sensei, really hadn't taught them much except for some teamwork. This left her to try and train by her self which she had never been good at, when push came to shove.

She was the type of person that could only really push herself when someone was watching and helping. Someone to push her, someone to compete with her. Her little rivalry with her pink haired friend/rival, Sakura, just didn't seem to cut it anymore since they had left the academy. Sakura was just as weak as she herself was, if not weaker. So there was little point in pushing herself against someone who didn't train either. Her thoughts veered off as she noticed another presence enter the waiting room. It was a plump nurse with black hair peppered with gray and a stern look to her. She was dressed in the tan that most medics were dressed in. She walked up to Ino with a clip board in hand.

"Where you the one that brought Uzumaki Naruto in?" she asked the blond before her,

"Yes. Is he going to be okay?" Ino questioned, her concern evident. The nurse narrowed her eyes at the blond in front of her, dislike already forming for the girl who would care if that demon was alright.

"Yes, he will be alright," she snapped. The angry tone wasn't missed by Ino, who raised a delicate eyebrow. "In fact he has already been released from the hospital, he just needs someone to be released to who will watch over him for a few days." The smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes. Shocked, Ino realized this didn't seem like normal hospital protocol.

"Shouldn't you at least keep him over night too see if there are any complications or something? I mean, he did have some pretty serious wounds." Ino stated, slightly confused.

The nurse frowned at her, saying, "The doctor said he would be fine and could leave and since you were the one who brought him in, we have already signed him out into your custody." The nursed smiled devilishly at this. "We will have some one help move him to your place until he recovers." Ino's mouth started to open and close, no sound forthcoming. How was this happening? What was going on?! She was about to begin to argue but the evil nurse cut her off and handed her a note, telling her to take it to one of the male nurses so that he could carry Naruto home for her. She then turned on her heel and was gone down the hall to do God knows what. Glancing down, Ino looked at the small piece of paper in her hands. 'Great this is all I need. How did this happen?!' she asked herself once again. But no answer was forthcoming.

The time it took to get a nurse and get to her loft above the flower shop passed in a Daze for Ino. Her mind was processing so much information that she couldn't quit lock on to any one topic to focus on. But a couple things kept popping into her mind. What the hell was she going to tell her parents and why did it look like none of the bandages were changed at all. He almost looks like they didn't even see him.

The moment the Nurse dropped him in the bed he quickly left not even sparing a simple good by or instructions for his care, leaving Ino to her thoughts again, her dark thoughts. She decided that she should change his bandages, because of the blood that was seeping through some of them. She went to the small bathroom that was down the hall just before the stairs to the flower shop. To get some more medical supplies she kept there. Grabbing medical tape, gaze, disinfectant and some more bandages. She made her way back to her room. She looked at the unconscious Naruto for a few moments before moving from the door into the room. She blushed slightly at the thought of having to take off some of his clothes to treat his wounds. But quickly pushed them aside. She was a Ninja she could handle a little bare flesh.

She moved the blanket from his form and started to remove his orange jacket that they put on him before moving him from the hospital being careful not to damage him anymore.

Then she tried to slide the the torn and bloody shirt from his body before giving up and grabbing a kunai from her hip pouch and cutting it up the middle. When her breath caught. He was so thin, even thinner then her and she was always dieting. He was nothing but skin and bones. She also noticed the only wound that was bandaged where the ones she had done herself. Was that trip to the hospital just a wast she thought to herself cause there is no way they treated him. There weren't even any stitches. Ino grabbed the antiseptic and got to work cleaning his wounds. Her mine kept skipping to dark thoughts about the boy that lay in her bed. She wrapped his wounds before moving to his face. She removed the bandages that were in place and started on the gashes and scraped that marred him. She couldn't help but wounder who could have done such a thing and why the hell no one at the hospital did any thing. Nothing Naruto had done justified this kind of treatment.

She did the best she could do, bandaging and treating his wounds, but she knew with out stitches there would be many scars by the time they healed. She felt bad that he would probably never took the same again. With all the gashes that ran across his face. She tucked him in and made her way to the sofa she had in the corner of the room and drifted into an uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Hey everyone sorry it took so long to update. I had wanted to get this chapter out the same week I posted the first chapter but the person I asked to Beta-read this never did even though they said they would. So I am sorry if there are any errors in this story, and if anyone would like to beta it for me and possible the rest of it please let me know. I would also like to thank all my readers and everyone who commented. I would also like to thank Narutosfangurl for Beta reading the first chapter. And Tcurry for his help beta-reading this chapter and the next next one. **

The sun broke over the horizon slowly basking all of Konoha in the brightness of a new day. Light streamed through windows awakening the people not wise enough to close their shades.

This normally wouldn't be a problem for the blonde beauty currently crashing on a sofa in a small loft above a flower shop. The problem was obvious; she wasn't in her bed that was on the other side of the room where the sun would only shine in the evening. It was the whole reason she put it there in the fist place. To avoid the rising sun that liked to ruin her beauty sleep. God how she needed her beauty sleep.

The sun crept its way into her eyes as she valiantly tried to fight it, covering her eyes with her arms and trying to shove her head into the soft pillows of her couch. It was of no use as her mind slowly came to the land of the living; no matter how hard she tried to slip back into her unconsciousness. She finally released an annoyed sigh and slowly sat up to rub the sleep from her eyes. She stretched like a cat, feeling her back pop before turning her neck to hear another satisfying crack. It took her a moment to remember why she was on her sofa as the events of the night before were still a bit foggy.

The blonde beauty got up despite the bags under her eyes and stiffness in her her back she felt from her sofa. She made her way to the her bed to check on Naruto. He was still asleep with bandages covering almost all of his head and face; only his eyes and ears seemed to be without the white wrappings. He seemed to be alright, to use the term loosely, seeing as he was still presumably covered in wounds. She decided she would check his injuries after her shower. God she needed a shower. She made her way down to the bathroom to take a quick forty minute shower and get ready for the day.

Ino stood in the shower, letting the sweat and dried blood from the day before wash off of her; the warm water helping to sooth her sore muscles. She relaxed for a few minutes and allowed the water to just cascade over her. Her mind woke fully as the water did its work. She was grateful that it was her team's day off and she didn't need to go to team practice today. The shop didn't need to be tended to until around four in the afternoon.

She got out of the shower, dried and grabbed her pink fluffy robe before making it back to her room to grab a light orange shirt and a pair of loose fitting black sweat pants with a string tie in the front. Ino returned to the bathroom and got dressed, then went to work on her hair and make up. She came out an hour later looking, in her own perfectly humble opinion, perfect.

Ino was just about to walk out the door when she remembered the boy currently in her bed. She let out another sigh as she made her way back over to her usual sleeping area to take a look at his bandaged face. His chest slowly rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern.

_Well I cant just leave him here. It would be strange to wake up some place and not know where you are, plus I need to redress his wounds. _She sat on the edge of the bed and slowly started to unwrap the bandages. Before they came off his eyes started to open. They looked a little blurry and unfocused as he started to come to; so he said the first thing that came to his still sleep meddled mind.

"Why's there and angel in my room?" his sleepy voice asked. "Did I die?"

Ino, for her part, turned bright red. No one, as far as she knew, had ever called her an Angel. Not even her dad. It was always princess with him. She turned her head in order to get her blush under control.

_Its only Naruto, Its only Naruto...but it was kind of sweet. He thought I was an angel._

Naruto's eyes slowly gained focus, his eyes making out the room and the angel sitting on the bed looking away. She turned back to him when she had her blush fully suppressed. "Ino?" he asked with dry harsh voice "What am I doing here?"

She looked down at the messy top of blonde hair and the loose bandages. "Well yesterday you came running into the flower shop and you were all cut up and stabbed, so I gave you first aid and brought you to the hospital," She told him all in one breath.

He coughed. "Then why am I here and not in the hospital?" The more awake Naruto asked, his voice still harsh from lack of water.

"I don't know," came her reply, "but let me get you so water. You sound thirsty." Ino walked to the kitchenette and got a glass of water for him.

She handed him the drink that he greedily drank, gulping it down. He chocked half way through and had to stop to regain his breath.

"So how did I end up here?" he asked her again.

"Well, that's the thing. I don't quite know how it happened. One minute I'm waiting in the waiting room to see how you're doing and the next a nurse came out and told me they signed you out to me. They had a nurse take you to my place." Ino finished in a whisper. She looked down to hide the few tears that came to her face.

"What's the matter Ino?" He asked, a little panic in his voice.

"I don't think they treated you at all," she said in a hushed voice. "I came back and changed your bandages and they didn't have any stitches or anything, just the bandages I put on you before I carried you to the hospital. I am afraid that you're going to have some pretty bad scars all over your face." she told him sadly, looking down so she wouldn't have to see the look in his eyes.

Naruto couldn't help but look at her in wonder. He couldn't believe that she actually cared enough about him to do all that she did and to cry on top of that for the scars that she thought he would have. "It's okay Ino...it's okay." he spoke in the most soothing voice he could manage. He'd never really comforted some one before, especially not some crying girl. He tried a few time but was always interrupted.

She glanced at him, tears beginning to spill. "No, it's not okay. You're going to be disfigured because the people at the hospital didn't want to treat you. How the hell is that okay?" She replied with a slight edge to her voice. "You'd probably be dead if I didn't close the wound in your lung."

"Ino I'm okay. Really, I've never scarred in my life and I am a fast healer...please don't cry." The panic came back into his voice. She looked at him again, her sniffles gradually stopping. Naruto reached up with a trembling hand and wiped her tears as best he could.

"I'll be fine," he repeated. "I've had worse and I never scarred." Ino looked at him with something akin to horror at the thought of him having worse than the night before.

"How could you have had worse when it looked like you were beaten within an inch of your life and then a blade taken to your face before getting stabbed!" The edge, anger, and fear in her voice scared him a bit. He turned away from her and chose to remain quiet. What could he say; that he was beaten within an inch of his life almost daily when he was little and even now, when he was caught off guard, that they would drag him to some ally and beat him in an effort to kill him. It had become much better since he became a ninja, though the beatings still hadn't stopped. Ino pushed her temper under her control in the silence that followed. She gazed at her night table that was full of medical supplies.

_'I guess I should finish changing his bandages. I can't believe he's had worse than this...I can't believe that! What kind of monster would do something like this? Sure he's a prankster and all, but he's always been nice to well everyone. Just a few pranks. Why would anyone hurt him like that? It was monstrous.' _She cringed at the thought of someone holding her down and slowly pulling a blade across her skin.

Ino reached for her supplies. "Naruto I need to finish changing your bandages." The blond across from her turned around, his arms crossed. If it wasn't for the bandages the pouting would have been rather cute When he turned back his eyes made her breath catch. She'd never really looked in them before and before she knew what happened, she was lost in them. They were so deep...so haunted. Like he had lived a long life of hardship. Lonely eyes. The only eyes she had seen come close were Sasuke's and a few of the older ninja who had seen much pain.

_'Maybe he wasn't lying about having worse.' _The thought numbed her a little.

"Ino...Ino," Naruto in an unsuccessful attempt to breaking Ino from her trance. He reached up, waving his hand in front of her face. She blinked a few times as the world around her came back into focus. "Are you alright Ino? You just seemed to space out there for a bit."

"Yes I'm fine," she blushed lightly. "but lets get back to changing those bandages." She reached up and started to pull way the last of the bandages that covered his face. Working slowly and being as gentle as possible. Her breath caught again as the last of the bandages fell away. Most of the wounds on his face where gone; a few still lingered but they were very small and seemed to be closing on there own. The blond Yamanaka was visibly shocked. How did all that damage heal overnight? Did they cast some kind of slow acting jutsu at the hospital before sending him home with her?

The shock on her face must have been obvious because Naruto opened his mouth to explain. "Told you I heal fast."

"But how is that possible?"She asked. He looked down and to the left breaking eye contact with her.

_'What do I tell her? Come on think of something Naruto. I can't exactly tell her it's from the Kyuubi now. Think...'_

"Well I don't really know," He lied. "I'ts just always been that way. I didn't even know I healed different then other people until I had a broken arm that healed in a week and everyone else took way longer than that."

Ino's jaw dropped at this info. _'So he can even heal bones.'_

"It must be a bloodline," Ino stated. "There's nothing else it could be."

"I'm not sure. I never met my parents so I couldn't really tell you," he replied. eyes drawn to the foot of the bed. He felt bad for not being able to tell her the truth but it was the law and he didn't want her to look down at him with the hate or disgust like other did.

Ino lowered her head. "I'm really sorry. I didn't realize you never met your parents. I knew you were an orphan but I always figured you lived with them at some point." She felt bad for bringing up bad memories for the blonde.

Naruto sighed. "It's alright Ino. I've had time to come to terms with it. I just wish I knew more about them. Even just their names. Some way to know that they loved me..anything really, but it doesn't look like that will be happening. I've kind of given up on ever finding out." Unshed tears glistened in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

_'Why does this still effect me? I should be over this by now. It's been years but I just can't seem to help it."_

Ino shocked them both when she leaned over and gave him a small hug trying to comfort him. She could see the unshed tears. To never even know your parents names...that must have been hard. All the uncertainty and loneliness he must have felt growing up. Never having been adopted and then living on his own. '_It must have been hard being an orphan.'_ she thought sadly.

A lot of his behavior now made sense. The need for attention, the pranks, his wild colored clothing. Even the bad grades made sense as he never had parents or anyone to help him study or train him after school. He was alone. She frowned at that thought and her mood worsened when she thought back to how she'd treated him in her competition with Sakura over Sasuke. She was normally nice to most everyone but would loose herself in her competition with Sakura.

How many times she had just shoved him out of the way like he wasn't there or worth noticing? Even though he tried so hard just for that; for someone to notice him. She decided then and there she would try and make more time to check up on him. Ino suddenly spoke up, breaking the uneasy silence that had fallen between them while she was in thought.

"Naruto, since you seem to be doing a little better, would you like me to get you something to eat? You haven't eaten in at least 17 hours."

At that moment there was a rumble. but not from the blonde in front of her. She blushed in embarrassment, having forgotten that the same could be said for her. "I'll go cook something," she said as she made her way to the small kitchenette that sat hidden across from the bathroom.

She smiled to herself as she opened the fridge thinking of what to cook. She wouldn't call herself a master chief or anything but she'd been cooking with Choji's mother since she was five. It'd probably put her cooking skills way above the average person or most restaurants. She decided to make Tempera, rice with a sweet bean sauce, and Hiyashi Chuka Noodles with Sesame Flavored Dressing.

She was happy she had just stocked up her groceries here. Ino wouldn't admit it to anyone but she loved to show off her cooking skills when she had a chance, though Choji never appreciated it because he always got gourmet food at home and could out cook her no problem. Then, of course, it was too troublesome for Shikamaru to give a complement on well, anything.

_'Damn lazy bastard,_' she thought as she grabbed the oil from the cabinet. It wasn't long for the sounds and sweet aroma of cooking to fill the small apartment. Ino got her rice and set it to boil. Then started working on the Hiyashi Chuka Noodles. She finished, getting everything prepped and cooking before heating some water for some tea. She figured it would be nice to have some and figured Naruto might like some as well.

Since it would take time for the rice to cook, she could use it to get to know the blond a little better._ 'Pump him for info,' _another part of her mind declared_._ Ino put some water in cups and put them in the microwave for a few minutes after that she got some tea bags. She was sure Naruto wouldn't care about her using them. She quickly finished making the tea and brought it over to him.

Ino set the cup down in front of him. "I made you some tea Naruto and the food still needs to cook for awhile. I took the liberty and added some sugar to your drink."

Naruto smiled. He still looked funny to her with all the bandages. "Thanks Ino. I don't like it really bitter."

"So Naruto, I was wondering if I could ask you a few things," she gave him a flirtatious smile. He smiled back nervously.

"Only if I don't have to answer and I get to ask some questions in return," he spoke, crossing his arms. She smiled at his reply.

_'Its so cute he thinks he has a chance to keep something from me. Aw.' _She mentally smirked before she agreed to his terms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author notes- Thanks everyone for reading the story so far. I apologize for the length of time it took to update this story. I really have no excuse well except to blame all those great writers on fanfiction. net Glares at the audience, you know who you are.. I also want to put special thanks out there to everyone who reviewed I try and reply back to them but to those I over looked or were not logged in I say thanks and hope you like the next installment. But if you don't feel free to let me know how I could make it better.**

**Disclaimer. I don't own anything but this laptop and the shotgun I guard it with so just try and take either ;)**

Ino sat quietly, contemplating her first question for Naruto. She had a few things she'd always wanted to ask him but never got around to it. The pressing one had almost driven her crazy since it had happened. Ino prided herself on having all the gossip. She also prided herself on knowing the facts from the bullshit. Not the stuff that ran through the rumor mills, but the cold hard truth.

But even through all the digging she'd done she couldn't find out how he'd managed to become a Ninja after failing the exam. She'd asked Iruka-Sensei but he'd refused to tell her and the rumors going around about it were so varied and far fetched that she hadn't the slightest idea how it had happened. He just showed up wearing a headband, his hideous orange jumpsuit and the biggest smile she had ever seen. She finally looked at Naruto with a slight smile on her face. It grew slightly when he almost visibly gulped.

"So Naruto, I've been wondering how you passed your academy exam after failing it."

_'Damn. What do I tell her? I can't tell her the whole truth...but maybe I can get by with a half truth.'_

"I learned an awesome new jutsu so they let me pass," he told her, hand scratching behind his head in a nerving gesture.

"So what jutsu did you learn?" He almost blurted it out before visibly restraining himself. She could tell he was proud and wanted to tell her but it caught her by surprise when he stopped himself. The question out of his mouth also caught her by surprise.

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question?" She smirked at him before replying

"Yes it was. So what Jutsu did you learn?"

Naruto frowned. "I thought you just said it was my turn."

"No I answered your question about if it was your turn, because isn't asking if it was your turn a question in itself?" He looked flabbergasted for a second before settling on a pout and complaining of the fairness of it all. She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her at his antics. After a couple of seconds he got a slight grin on his face.

"Let me show you." his hands went threw a couple fast seals that she didn't catch and the room filled with a puff of smoke and two Nartuo's stood on either side of her. She smiled at Naruto.

"So you finally learned the Bushin." He smiled before she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and her elbow to shoot into the clone's solar plexus. It took Ino a second to get her heart rate under control again.

"Its not just a Bushin its a Kage Bushin" He said with a huge grin. The smile didn't last long as the look on Ino's face turned from shock to anger.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Ino's loud voice rang out. "What the hell were you trying to do, give me a heart attack or something!" Naruto would have backpedaled from the volume of her voice if it wasn't for the fact he was on a bed. That didn't stop him from trying to sink into it as she got in his face.

He was just about to beg for forgiveness when the timer went off, signaling that the rice was done. He let out a relieved breath when Ino's face changed from anger to happiness in a matter of seconds. "The Rice is done," She half-sung in happiness as she practically skipped to the kitchenette.

_'That was weird. She must be really hungry or something to change from angry to happy so fast,' _Naruto thought to himself.

Meanwhile, in the kitchenette Ino had thoughts of her own running through her head. First She had learned a lot about Naruto in the time since she woke up this morning, yet it only left her frustrated because it left her with even more questions. _How did he learn a S-ranked jutsu, yet not manage to do the simple Bushin_ was one of them.

Second was, _'Damn PMS.'_

What was really bothering her was the way he froze when she had hugged him earlier. She had though it was because of shock at first, or embarrassment from having a beautiful girl hug him of course. Though, as the hug continued, he didn't return it or unfreeze. She knew something was up. It was like he didn't know what to do or how to breath in until she let him go.

Ino finished preparing the food and got everything set up on a tray, before doing one last sweep of the kitchenette to make sure everything was off and she wasn't going to catch the place on fire again. She brought the tray over to Naruto on the bed.

Naruto looked at the food that sat before him. He had never eaten anything like this before. The best thing he'd ever gotten was the ramen from Ichiraku. What they gave him in the orphanage couldn't really be classified as food and he learned early on he wasn't welcome at other eating establishments. Even the few stores that sold him stuff, would over price him and give him expired goods. Plus he had never learned how to cook. So he couldn't make a proper meal to save his life. So as he sat looking at the meal before him he couldn't help the pained look that passed his features.

Ino, being as observant as she was, caught the look. "Naruto is something wrong?" She asked, concerned.

He forced a smile to his face. "It's nothing... it's just this is probably the closest I've ever come to a home cooked meal." A look of understanding passed on her face.

"Well I guess we should dig in before it gets cold " Ino replied awkwardly. Ino and Naruto broke apart their chopsticks.

Ino waited, transfixed, for him to take his first bite of Tempera. His face went through a number of emotions before finally setting on a look of amazement.

"WOW! This is even better than ramen!" he stated in shock. A light blush appeared on Ino's face at the praise. Everyone knew how much Naruto loved his ramen. The red tinge quickly vanished as he devoured the rest of the Tempera on his plate. It had to have been one of the most disgusting things she had ever seen. She'd seen him eat Ramen before but never thought he would eat like that with other foods.

Before Naruto could even try any of the other food she had made the tray was roughly taken away by an irate Ino. She wasn't full blown 'I am going to scream my lungs out' mad but she was going to be damned if she let anyone eat like that in her house, let alone on her bed.

Naruto was surprised when the food was taken from him. Though it wasn't the first time it had happened, he'd thought Ino was different since she'd cared for him. His face dropped, knowing it was too good to be true.

_'Of course she only gave me some so she could take it away. Just like the others,' _he thought angrily_. _

He'd been given a big piece of cotton candy once only for the man to let him get a taste of it before taking it, throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. Saying a monster like him didn't deserve anything that good.

"Naruto, I will not have people eating like a pig in my house. Especially not in my bed. If you won't eat like a person I won't give you anymore." She huffed.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at her words. He clearly didn't understand. "How was I eating wrong?" he asked, confusion clearly written on his face.

Ino's jaw dropped when she realized he really had no clue what he had done wrong. Her mind went back to the earlier conversation about his parents, or lack thereof.

_'He really doesn't know anything about manners. No wonder he eats like that. No one ever told him that's not the way you do it.'_

"Well Naruto, most people are taught too eat in a respectable way. Its important to slow down and eat with your mouth shut. No one wants to see the food in your mouth or have it flying all over the place. Also, you shouldn't talk with food in your mouth for the same reason. People really don't like it when you do. There are many other table manners like not putting your elbows on the table but those first three are the most important."

"Now pay attention." Ino grabbed a piece of Tempera off her plate and started eating it with her mouth open like he did earlier. She took a little pleasure seeing the revolted look on his face.

"This is the way you were eating. Gross right?" Naruto could only nod his head in reply. "This is how you're suppose to eat." She grabbed another piece of Tempera, bringing it to her lips. She placed it in her mouth, eating at a much slower pace without showing the grotesque process that eating really was. She swallowed. "Not only do you not make everyone lose their appetite you also enjoy the food better because you can actually taste it better."

He glanced at the tray of food. "Okay Ino, I'll try and do better...and thanks for explaining it to me." She returned the tray to him.

He looked down trying to decide what to try next. He decided on the Hiyashi Chuka Noodles. He had been curious about it since she brought it out because he loved ramen noodles so noodles in general were understandably at the top of his list. His eyes went wide again at the taste of the new dish, yet he restrained himself from diving in like he had earlier. Still, he didn't take the time to praise the cook until there was nothing left of the Hiyashi Chuka Noodles.

"That was amazing Ino. I never knew food could be so good. Ramen is good but that was like...amazing. What was it?" Ino was practically squealing at the praise.

"That was Hiyashi Chuka Noodles with Sesame Flavored Dressing Naruto." She smiled at him and the fact he hadn't opened his mouth through that whole course. Ino continued to eat her food as Naruto started in on his last course of rice with a sweet bean sauce. He finished about the same time as Ino did despite having had seconds.

"So Ino, now that it's my turn to ask a question," Naruto reminded her, not going to fall for the same trick twice. "I was wondering how come you and Sakura fight so much now. I remember you two use to be really close friends when we were younger."

Ino looked down. "Well I would rather not talk about it but the short of it is she stopped being my friend because I liked Saskue too. One day she asked me if I liked him and I said yes. She said then that made us Rivals and that's how it happened." Naruto could tell that she was taking this harder then she let on. He rested his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her even though he really didn't have any experience doing so. It just seemed the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry Ino. It must have been hard losing your best friend like that. Sorry to bring up bad memories." Surprise flitted across Ino's face at the sweet gesture and even more so that it had come from Naruto. Not only had he caught on that it was a tough subject for her, even though she was trying to hide it; he also did a good job of comforting her. Everyone said he was stupid or useless most of the time, but his comforting hand tossed all of that out the window.

_Maybe they were wrong_. She mused to herself.

"Thanks Naruto. It's not like you meant to upset me or anything. So...it's my turn to ask another question." He nodded hesitantly.

"I know you like Sakura a lot and I never got why. It's not like she is nice to you or anything." Naruto frowned at this. It wasn't that he couldn't answer the question. It was just that the reason wasn't really applicable any more.

"Well the reasons I like her is that she is, beautiful, smart, has a bright personality and used to be nice to me...but once Sakura started liking the teme she stopped being my friend and started yelling and hitting me whenever I tried to hang out with her or talk to her. I guess the reason I like her so much is I remember how she use to be and I can't seem to let that go." He looked down at the Admission. "Well at least she's on my team now and that means she'll have to be my friend again eventually. I know she'll come around and figure out that Sasuke is just a baka that doesn't know how good he has it."

Ino went speechless She even decided to let the insults to Sasuke go for now. She'd thought he was blind to the treatment he got from the pink haired girl. How could anyone take that kind of abuse and still like someone that much? She could tell by the way he spoke that he hated what Sakura had become and how she treated him but he couldn't seem to let go of whatever feelings he had for the girl.

The blonde Yamanaka released a tired sigh. "You know Naruto, there are a lot of girls out there that meet those standards. Maybe you shouldn't focus only on her. You never know what you might be missing out on." She smiled. "Just look at the food we ate today. You thought you liked ramen the best, but once you tried some of the other things out there you found out that maybe there are other things just as good or even better. You just have to keep an open mind." Naruto's face froze. He couldn't decide what to say.

_'Yeah right Ino. You're one to talk; the way you ignore everyone but your precious Sasuke. _Naruto held his thoughts to himself and just agreed with her because she had made a decent point. _Though what other girls out there have ever given me the time of day let alone want to date me. Not to mention their parents wouldn't let them near the demon. _He thought bitterly to himself.

Ino couldn't help but notice his face go sour. It almost looked like he was constipated or something. She sifted though the contents of what she said to make him upset but couldn't really think of what it could be.

"Yeah Ino you might be right. But there are just so many girls beating my doors down to date me," the sarcasm dripping off his voice wasn't lost on Ino.

"That might change if you got rid of that orange jump suit and wore some proper clothing for once," Ino snapped back at him. "What kind of ninja wears orange? It makes you look stupid. Are you trying to get yourself and your team killed?"

Naruto looked at her stupidly. "But the Ninja store I bought this from said it was the best out there for a ninja."

Ino couldn't help but slap a palm to her face. Just when she started too think he had a brain in his head he had to take two steps back and show her she was wrong again. _Am I ever going to understand what's going on in that head of his? One second he shows some sign of having a brain and then he says something like that. Maybe I should explain why that isn't a good choice for a ninja._

"Naruto you're not thinking. Ninja are supposed to hide and be stealthy. Just what the hell is stealthy in bright orange? It's like pasting a sign on your back saying 'Here I am, kill me and my team.'"

"Well its not like bright red is all that stealthy either but I don't hear anyone bitching at Sakura," He bit back. "At least my clothing gives me some protection and have enough pockets to hold equipment." _Plus its the only thing they will sell me. _He thought to himself. Ino, surprisingly, had nothing to say. Naruto made a good point in defending his choice of clothing. They all focused in on him and never said anything to Sakura so he just thought they were picking on him like usual.

_'I've been friends with her for years and never thought to question her clothing...but he's right. Red stands out almost as much as orange.' _

"You're right Naruto. Red is just as bad as orange. That doesn't mean you should be a moron just because Sakura is," She lectured. "I'll be having a few words with her later about her choice in mission clothing too."

Naruto nodded affirmatively. Ino's siding with him had caught him off guard, but he wouldn't let her know that. No one had ever said anything bad about Sakura doing it so he thought it was just everyone messing with him like usual. Sitting back and thinking about it, he knew the majority of ninja wore dark clothing or camouflage to blend in with the environment. Maybe what Ino was saying held some truth to it.

"But I like orange," he whined, pout active.

Ino walked over to her custom closet and opened it to show a very large selection of clothing ranging in black to white with every color in between. The largest color variety she owned seemed to be different shades of orange and purple.

"I like orange almost as much as I like purple but that doesn't mean I should wear it on missions," she replied with a frown.

"It's one of the few colors that go really well with blonde hair. I'm not telling you not to wear orange around the village if that's what you want, but at least wear something else on missions and maybe add a little variety to your clothing. Maybe black pants with an orange shirt or the other way around. Just not a full body suit of orange. It looks stupid," she sighed in exasperation.

Naruto listened to what she had to say and took it all in, enclosing it within his mind for future reference. That still didn't help him with the shop keepers not selling things to him and overpricing him. Maybe if he asked Iruka-sensei to go with him.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt get some more clothing; not that I would even know where to start." he said to Ino. Ino seemed to brighten at her victory. She loved shopping and any excuse to go wasn't something she was going to pass up. This could also be considered an act of charity in her book because knowing Naruto, he would end up in something worse than what he was already wearing. The thought of a neon pink Naruto passed through her mind, leaving no further room in her mind for arguments. She'd go and make sure he didn't mess up anything and if she just so happened to find a few things for herself, all the better.

Naruto couldn't help but sweat a little at the maniacal grin on Ino's face. Her rubbing her hands together and laughing wasn't really helping his thoughts on her sanity before she rounded on him.

"We're going shopping just as soon as your ready!" She said in a sing song voice that sent a shiver up his spine.

_'What did I get myself into?'_ He thought as Ino practically bounced around the bed, finding his torn jacket and other various articles of clothing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Notes: Hey everyone! I am back again with my next installment to this story. I will say this one... well for now anyways I am sorry that it took me six Months to update this story especially since I had most of this chapter done four months ago. But I was having problems with one of my transitions, especially since I was procrastinating working on it. Though on the plus side this chapter is almost as long as my last three chapters combined which should really add to the word count. I hope everyone likes this next and reviews because each review makes me want to write a little bit more and it will hopefully get me to finish the next chapter faster.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any characters or Idea's associated with it that are seen in the anime or manga. **

Shop Till You Drop

The sun was high in Konoha, nearing mid day by the time Ino and Naruto set out for shopping. Ino was happily bouncing down the streets; completely ignorant to the cold glares sent at Naruto. Who was following at a small distance behind her. She happily looked from shop to shop, even though she knew where she was going. She was so caught up in the thrill of shopping; she hadn't given the blond behind her a single thought since leaving her loft.

They were nearing the shop she had in mind when she finally remembered her traveling companion. She waited for him to catch up a little before addressing him.

"So Naruto, you have any ideas on what kind of clothing you might like?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Not really. Just something that would be good for a Ninja. You're the expert Ino. What do you think I should get?" The blonde inquired. Ino's face lit up in happiness

"So you're leaving everything up to me?" She asked with glee.

"Yeah…As long as I can afford it," he reminded her, taking out his filled to capacity Gama-Chan.

"I could also use some new kunai and other ninja equipment." He sighed thinking of how much smaller Gama-Chan was going to be after this trip. Luckily he had a little extra money due to the D ranked missions he'd been going on in the last week.

Ino put her hands on her hips. "Well it's a good thing we can get all that at the store we're going to then, though I think there are a few other shops I want to look in for some of the clothing. I've seen your clothes and I think it would be a good idea to get you a couple sets of civilian clothes too; in case you ever need to blend in or go undercover."

"What's wrong with what I have?" He asked, perplexed.

She fought the urge to face-palm. "Naruto orange isn't exactly low profile. Remember what I said earlier about it standing out. It'll draw people's attention to you, which is a bad thing for a ninja. Let's say you had to sneak into a village and assassinate some mayor or government official and were going to go in dressed as a civilian to get past the guards. Would you want everyone to remember you because of what you were wearing or slip in past everyone as just another face in the crowd then slip back out the same way without having to fight everyone in town?" Ino finished her scenario. Naruto opened his mouth but she continued. "Even if you got away it would be easier to track you down later simply because you were the _only _one wearing an orange jumpsuit."

Naruto seemed to be analyzing the scenario in his head. "I guess that makes sense Ino. I never thought of it like that." His face brightened. "But couldn't we just use a henge, to look like a civilian and not worry about changing clothes?"

She smiled at his initiative. "There are two problems with that. The first is that the henge doesn't take much chakra, but if you have to use it for a long time it can weaken you; it'll hurt you if you have to fight later. The second is that many advanced ninja can tell when someone's using a henge If they get close enough. If one of them saw you, your cover would be blown which is again, bad. It's a great technique and most can't sense it but it would be best not to chance it when your life hangs in the balance."

Naruto listened to Ino with rapt attention, taking in everything she was saying. He really couldn't fault her logic, though he wanted to tell her he wouldn't necessarily have a problem with the first issue she spoke about. He was so caught up in what the other genin was saying he couldn't even worry about the reaction he was going to get when they finally made it to the store.

The conversation made time fly for the two and before he knew it he was standing in front of a small ninja equipment store called 'The Ninjas Heaven'. It was a rustic looking place with drapes covering the door with symbols for kunai on them and a large window filled with displays of different weapons; from kunai to Katana and everything in between. There was also a sign above the door reading 'Ninja Only'. Naruto had never been in this shop and didn't know what kind of reception he would receive. It was with a little fear that he entered the flap after Ino.

The shop inside was much larger than what the outside window suggested. It opened up to rows and rows of weapons in display cases. A small register sat near the door and a stair case leading to the floor above and below. There was also a door in back with a sign saying 'Forging, employees only'. The chair behind the register was currently empty. Naruto assumed the person running the shop must be in the forge or on another floor. He looked around warily, keeping an eye out for the shop keeper.

"Come on Naruto. The clothes are on the second floor. We'll get your weapons when we're done with that." Ino spoke, bouncing with energy at the thought of clothes.

Naruto had never seen Ino so energetic or excited while at the academy. Hell, he didn't think he'd ever seen anyone this excited. It brought a small smile to his face to see her so happy. '_To think something as simple as clothes could make Ino so happy. Clothes that aren't even for her.' _

Naruto followed her up the stairs, still keeping a lookout for the shop keeper. His eyes widened as he saw the rows and rows and of ninja apparel. There was everything from body armor to face masks; all categorized into groups to be easier to find.

Ino motioned around the shop with her hand. "Isn't this place great Naruto? It has everything we need and the best part is we get a thirty percent discount on everything for being Konoha ninja. They only sell to us and our allied nation's ninja but we still get the best prices. We also get access to the basement, which is for Konoha shin-obi and kunoichi only."

"Why's it only for Konoha nin Ino?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It's because they keep all the best stuff in there. They don't want a potential enemy to get any of our weapons or technology that they don't already have. Although we do have other nations allied with us we still can't trust them on all levels. It's best not to reveal our secrets or sell them powerful weapons to use against us."

The blond scratched his head again. "That makes sense. What kind of stuff do they have in there?"

Ino ignored his query. "Later Naruto…Can't you hear it?'

He strained his ear. "Hear what?"

"The clothing…it's calling," she said with a dreamy look as she practically flew to the first rack. It happened to be meshed armor for under clothing. Not much protection, but helped to reduce the damage of kunai and shuriken.

"So Naruto what size are you?" Ino asked as she browsed the racks looking for the men's section. She completely missed the blush and confused look on Naruto's face.

"Size of what?" He asked, bewildered. It was Ino's turn to blush, thinking he'd made a play on her words. It even caused her to stop browsing the cloths and look at the blond. It took her a second to realize he wasn't making a joke and was actually confused.

"I meant the size of your clothes Naruto. You know: pants, shirts, jackets and such."

"Um, I really don't know. I just grabbed what looked like it would be the best fit." Ino's dumbfounded look pinned him for a second.

She rubbed her temples. "Alright, just take off your coat so I can properly judge the right size for you." Ino remembered how thin he was from when she treated his wounds and just how much the coat added to his mass.

The blond Yamanaka eyed him with an expert eye, deciding what would be the best size for him. She didn't know men's sizes as well as women's, but she did have to help her father and Choji a few times while out shopping. She figured him to be about a fourteen. She made her way down the rack until she'd found the right size. He barely caught it when she tossed it to him.

"Go to the back dressing room to try that on and tell me how it fits. It shouldn't be loose on you at all. If it is we'll find one that fits better."

Naruto took the mesh shirt and pants and made his way to where Ino indicated. It was just three small rooms with curtains hanging in front of them. He quickly changed into them and was surprised that they fit snug, but not tight at all. He was amazed that Ino got it right just by looking at him for a few seconds.

'_Man she must really know her clothes she got it right on the first try.' _The blonde thought as he changed back into his normal clothing. He made his way back to Ino, still holding his meshed armor.

She cocked an eyebrow, waiting. "So did it fit?"

His look of wonderment almost caused her to blush. "Yeah. It's amazing you got my size on the first try." Ino was pleased with the praise on her shopping skills. It seemed her talent for picking out clothes didn't differ between men and women.

"That means your size is a fourteen. It's a little small for someone your age but it's better to get the right size. Let's go look at the shirts and pants. Then maybe some chest armor to make you look a little bigger and for extra protection." Naruto followed her without hesitation through the racks of clothing, his excitement slightly subdued from her comment on his size. He pushed the thought away, deciding not to let it bother him too much.

Ino sifted through the rack. "So Naruto, any preferences in clothing I should consider?"

Naruto thought about it for a second. "Well, I like things with lots of pockets." He pulled at his orange jumpsuit. "Something durable too so I don't have to keep replacing them. I've had this for years and haven't had to buy another one. Oh, and something that's felt as good as what I had on earlier. It was really easy to move in."

Ino looked at him with a slight smile. "Naruto, this is a ninja equipment store. Most everything meets those requirements. I meant something along the line of hidden pockets, kunai holders, fire resistance and style. Things like that."

Naruto put a hand to his chin in thought. "I like the style of pants I have, but other than that no real preferences. Though what you said sounds good to me; Fire resistant and with hidden pockets for kunai and other equipment. Is there any that are water resistant to so I don't get weighed down if I get wet?"

She nodded. "Most of the fire resistant clothing is also waterproof. I don't think it will be too hard to find the things you're looking for. Your likes are pretty general." Ino went around the racks, pulling stuff off and handing it to Naruto if it passed her inspection.

It took longer than Naruto thought it would to find the clothes that would be his mission wear. Ino had selected at least nine shirts and nine pairs of pants in about the same style; just varying in color. She got him three black, three green, one camouflage and two taupe colored shirts with red spirals on the back. She also got matching pants to go with the shirts. The shirts weren't all that different then regular T shirts aside from being more durable and resistant to fire and water. The pants were the same as his orange ones except they had two extra pockets and three hidden pockets on the inside to hide things in.

She'd also had him get two black long sleeve shirts with hoods and green spirals on the back so he could hide his blond hair if needed.

Ino was insistent that he get a new black jacket with a rust colored orange paneling that would blend in well. She couldn't seem to see Naruto without some form of orange on him. The coat was Kevlar with a thin light weight metal sewn into the back to protect his blind side. It also had two quick release kunai holders in the selves. So he could drop them into his hands. She couldn't help but notice that the coat fit him like a glove and pulled the entire look together.

She'd decided that he didn't need the body armor with the new coat making him look bigger than he was in a way similar to his old coat. Overall Ino thought the new clothes made him look both presentable and, if need be, stealthy; especially the camouflage pants with the black t-shirt he was wearing at the moment. Without the hood on, the dark colors really drew out the brightness of his hair and eyes.

Ino was so caught up in shopping for Naruto that she'd completely forgotten about getting herself something.

Naruto absolutely loved the new Jacket and was glad, Ino approved of it. It wasn't nearly as bright as his last one but it still had orange which made all the difference in the world to him. He just wouldn't have felt right without some.

He was also excited about the new cloths they had picked out. He had never had this much variety in clothing before and the way Ino's eyes light up every time he stepped out of the dressing room clenched it for him.

He might not have wanted a new wardrobe at first but now he was happy about it. Though he was still weary of the shop clerk that he still hadn't seen yet. Also he felt like they had picked out enough clothing though Ino didn't seem like she had any intention of stopping anytime soon.

"Hey Ino, I think we picked out enough cloths. Plus I still need some kunai and other equipment" Naruto said to the girl with her head buried in the clothing rack almost like it was consuming her. Though the view that left of her would be appreciated by almost any male himself included.

Ino pulled herself from the rack of cloths with a slight pout, though she knew he had a point.

"aw! and I was just getting into it." Naruto blanched at that, they had been there a good three hours already and Ino still wanted to shop. He knew she loved to shop but this was kind of ridiculous.

"come on Ino, I only have so much money plus I need other things as well." he said with his own pout.

"Oh alright, I guess we will go look at the other ninja equipment now." They gathered up the cloths they intended to buy and started for the stairs.

Ino couldn't help but notice his nervousness as they descended the stairs. He had relaxed when they were shopping but now he was almost as stiff as a board again. Though she couldn't figure out why.

Ino was the first down the stairs and her eyes light up, when she recognized the brunette behind the cash register Idly sharpening a kunai .

"Hey Tenten" Ino's voice rang out. Ino didn't know the brunette that well yet but had started to get to know her better since she had been coming to the shop since becoming a Genin. She also vaguely remembered her from the academy even though they were in different Years.

Naruto had relaxed immensity seeing the brunette behind the counter. He knew the law in place was to keep the younger generation from knowing about the Kyubi. Plus the lack of hate in her eyes and the slight smile she gave him clenched it for him. She didn't know about his burden.

"Hey Ino" came the pretty brunettes reply "who's your friend?" she said with a very light blush on her checks.

"Oh this is Naruto, I was just helping him pick out a new wardrobe and get some equipment that he needs. Naruto this is Tenten she graduated the academy the year before us." Ino said in her chipper voice again. She had noticed the blush Ten Ten had when she asked about the blond. But decided she could tease her friend later when Naruto wasn't around.

Ino couldn't help but think the cloths did make a huge difference. If she was honest with herself she would have said he actually looked pretty hot. But she wasn't about to admit that anytime soon.

"Hey Tenten its nice to meet you." Naruto said with a huge smile that seemed to light up his face.

"Its nice to meet you to" Tenten said with a bashful smile

"So what kind of equipment were you looking for Naruto?" Tenten questioned

"well I need some New kunai, shuriken, ninja wire and other miscellaneous stuff. But I would like to pay for my clothing first to see how much I have left to spend." the blond said with a sheepish smile.

Tenten counted the clothing and the different specifics of it all and rang it up before telling Naruto his total price.

Naruto's jaw dropped at the price. He just couldn't believe the price she just gave him for all those cloths. He'd payed more then that on just two sets of his orange jump suits and he was getting at least three time as much as what he got then. Naruto was expecting the cloths to practically whip him out and barely be able to scrape what he needed for his equipment.

The shock was evident to both girls. Both thinking it was because of how high the price was.

"Don't worry Naruto she still hasn't calculated the 30 percent off yet " Ino said in a soothing voice

Naruto practically hyperventilated at that but managed to get himself under control. Before he made to much of a scene. He numbly forked over the new amount Tenten gave him. Leaving his Gama-chan still quite plump. _Damn! I new the shopkeepers were overcharging me but I never realized just how much_. _I so need to pull a prank on that shopkeeper sometime soon. _Naruto thought to himself an almost evil smile crossed his face for a half a second though the girls didn't catch it.

Tenten packaged up Naruto's purchases quietly wondering about his behavior. It seemed strange to her but decided not to mention anything about it. _Besides he's cute when he's speechless like that. _She thought to herself. Mentally giggling

Ino noticed his strange behavior also but decided not to bring it up for now just filing it away in the other weird aspects of Naruto she needed to figure out.

"So Naruto lets get that equipment you need." Tenten said once she finished bagging his purchases. Breaking Naruto out of his revenge planning. "What kind of kunai and shuriken do you want and how many of each"

"Just the basic academy style kunai and shuriken. I would like sixty kunai and one hundred shuriken please. Plus a hundred yards of Ninja wire." said the blond. Naruto figured since he still had so much left over he might as well stock up on some of his basic equipment. He was also going over what else he would need in his head.

"OK, just let me go to the back to get that for you Naruto" Tenten put a little extra sway to her hips as she walked back to the forge. They normally only kept one of each type of kunai and shuriken on display and filled the orders from the back.

Ino rolled her eyes at Tenten not missing the attempt to flirt with her blond friend. If it wasn't the walk that gave her away then it would have been the way she fluttered her eyelashes while she was taking his order. She suppressed a laugh at the still oblivious Naruto. She knew he was blind to flirting or when a girl obviously liked him. Just seeing the way he interacted with Hinita was proof of that. It was almost painfully obvious to anyone with two eyes that Hinita liked the boy. But he just couldn't see it.

_Man how oblivious can one guy be. Obviously, I am going to need to fill Naruto in on how a girls lets you know they are interested or he will never get a date. Even with the hot new cloths. _The stunning blond thought to herself. _Or at least a short rundown on the basics signs to look for. So he isn't quite so dense._

Meanwhile looking at the assortment of weapons and other things in the shop. There were so many different types and styles. Hell most of them looked useless for the average shin-obi. Being large and lacking mobility. Hell there was even a battle ax that was bigger then Naruto by at least a foot probably better used in executions then combat.

Naruto wanted some kind of weapon besides the basic shin-obi equipment, but didn't really know what he wanted. He knew it couldn't be anything too long or bulky. So that greatly reduced the chooses to chose from. But there were still a lot weapons to consider. There were claw weapons, short swords, sickles, kodachi, short staff, numb-chucks, daggers and an assortment of other weapons that Naruto couldn't name. To say he was lost could be an understatement.

He was mostly considering the kodachi and cycles at the moment but wasn't sure if they would be a good choose for him.

"Hey Ino, I was wondering what's a good weapon would be for me is?" Naruto asked the blond who looked lost in thought. Causing her to jump slightly at his voice

"Well Naruto, I don't really know that much about weapons. Not using one myself, but it should probably match your body type. If I were you I would probably ask Tenten because she knows a lot more about them then me."

"That's a great idea Ino, she probably knows tons about them working in a weapons shop like this" Naruto said excitedly

It seemed like an hour to the blond waiting for Tenten to return, but was more in the area of 10 minutes.

It was kind of a large order to get as most ninja bought their equipment in smaller quantities twenty to thirty at most and tended to keep them for quite awhile. Of course they lost them during missions and damaged them in training but most of the time they kept them in near perfect condition. Keeping their tools in top condition was one of the things that could mean the difference between life and death in the shin-obi world and most took it to heart.

Tenten finally returned from the back surprising Naruto by not having any stacks of kunai or anything on her. He frowned slightly in confusion when she pulled a scroll from her pocket.

"Hey Naruto since you are getting such a large order I decided to seal them in a sealing scroll for you. I put them in stacks of twenty so all you to do is put your thumb on the seal with a little blood with what what you want and channel chakra into the seal and out they pop. I will also seal what ever else you buy into this scroll so you can get it all home. Sorry this is a one time use sealing scroll so you wont be able to reseal anything but it will sure make getting all this stuff home much easier she said with a smile."

Naruto had seen people pulling and putting things in scrolls before. You don't live in a ninja village without seeing it. Plus seeing as he had a demon sealed inside of him its pretty hard not to know about seals to some extent. Though Naruto was excited at the prospect of having a sealing scroll because he always though they were so cool. He was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to reuse it.

Naruto had wanted to learn more about seals but the teachers never helped him and the shin-obi section of the library was off limits to non shin-obi and was cut into sections through the use of seal going by rank. So he couldn't even go in under henge but now that he was a genin he could at least look at some of the scrolls they had.

"Tenten that's so cool! Thanks a lot, I so want to learn to seal things like that. Its like the coolest thing ever." he said with excitement in his voice.

Tenten was a bit shocked at the volume and quick change in behavior. though with a team mate like Lee it didn't bother her too much. Though she swore to herself if he started screaming about youth she would have to castrate him. Two of them was good enough and at least Naruto had some fashion sense. (If she only knew).

"Well Naruto, we do sell sealing supplies and the begging and intermediate books on sealing if you are interested in learning. Though I would stick with the begging book until you get good at it" Naruto really didn't need to think about his answer.

"Hell Yeah! That would be awesome!" Naruto said bouncing on the souls of his feet. Way to excited to hear the blond beside him trying to remind him about asking about his weapon problem. until the enraged blonds fist met the side of his head knocking him to the ground.

"HEY! Naruto listen when I'm talking to you." Ino said with an angry red Aura around her. The one he noted she normally had when fighting with Sakura-chan. "As I was saying weren't you going to ask Tenten about getting a weapon?" she said with a slight tick above her eye. One thing Ino hated was to be ignored, hell she was almost as bad as Naruto and Kiba in that regard.

'Oh yeah thanks Ino" Naruto said still slightly nursing the lump on his head. "Though did you need to hit me so hard." he wined at the purple wearing girl "Yes!" came Ino's sharp reply.

Tenten's voice broke into there conversation . "So Naruto you want to get a weapon?" the weapons mistress asked. "yeah!"was the blonds response "Any idea what kind you want?" Naruto looked in thought for a second trying to remember what he had decided on before.

"well I don't know much about weapons though I know they need to match your body type. I was thinking of either a Kodachi or a pair of sickles. What would you suggest?" the blond asked.

"Well do you know any Kenjutsu styles? The pink wearing girl asked

" No not really" Tenten looked thoughtful at Naruto's reply "Well in that case I would have to recommend a kodachi until you pick up style. It will be easier to learn because you don't have to worry about blocking and attacking with two hands and The Kodachi will give you more of a range advantage then the cycles will. Though you could always get some sickles later when you get the Kodachi down."

"Sounds like a plan, thanks for the help Tenten." Naruto said while making his way towards the display of Kodachi before Tenten's voice stopped him. "Hey Naruto you don't want any of those kodachi, don't get me wrong they are all well forged. But all the good ones are down stairs" she said with a slight smirk on her face.

"Really? What makes the ones down stairs better then these ones?" Naruto asked in curiosity "Well, Naruto the ones downstairs are made of better metal that conducts chakra better and they have different seal forged into the blades to do different things. Such as keeping them sharp and making it so blood doesn't stick to the blade. There are actually tones of different seals that can be put into the blades most of them are unknown to me. Though most people come in with custom orders where they have the seals they want and we just have to copy them onto the blades for them. My father is Intermediate seal master that focuses on seals for forging."

"Really! That's so cool! what does some of the others seals do?"

"Well the most common ones are for converting chakra into the different elements such as fire and wind to up the power of the swords. There are even seals that when you pump chakra into them causes certain Jutsu to happen such as the clone technique to confuse their enemy's when attacking."

"That's Awesome! Lets go look at some of them Naruto said barley containing his glee to a somewhat moderate level. Well for him anyways. Naruto really didn't want to get hit by Ino again.

To say that Naruto was surprised when he finally made it to the basement would be an understatement. The first two floors where moderate in size but the basement could have fit both other floors and then some in it. It was filled with display cases and racks of equipment that made the other two floors pale in comparison and everything was organized into different sections. In the right corner there was shelves and shelves of books and scrolls all organized into category's by rank, element and genre. In the left corner seemed to be sealing equipment and different exploding tags and many other things Naruto didn't recognize. In the center was the display cases of different weapons all categorized by size and type. There had to have been hundreds of them, then on the right side of the stairs seemed to be specialized shin-obi equipment such as breathing masks, poisons and antidotes. On the left side of the stairs was dedicated to bandages and other medic related equipment.

Ino had been anticipating his shocked reaction since they came to The Ninjas Heaven . Which was commonly refereed to by the ninja of Konoha as simply The Basement. She had, had the same reaction her first time coming downstairs.

She had to suppress the laugh that threatened to break out. Looking at Naruto's shocked face his bulging eyes and slack jaw making her wish she had brought her camera. Ino gently reached over closing the blonds mouth effectively breaking him out of his trance.

"Come on Naruto lets go find you a Kodachi." the blond said following Tenten towards a couple of the display cases that seemed dedicated to nothing but them. There were three display cases and each seemed to hold around 25 Kodachi each. To say Naruto was lost in trying to pick one out would be an understatement.

"Hey Tenten which one should I get? There are so many of them I don't know where to start." the blond asked the weapons mistress

"Well Naruto I don't know, I can't really help you with that. Most people say its not the person that picks the weapon but the weapon that picks the person. I would recommend picking up a few maybe a few practice swings until you find the one that fits you. You will know when you find the right one." the brunette said with a smile.

"OK thanks Tenten!" Naruto smiled at girl causing her to blush again. Before going finding a sheath that caught his eye. It was midnight black with a red swirl on it right at the handle. He pulled the normal looking blade from its sheath giving it a few swings before putting it back on the self. It just didn't seem to feel right. He repeated the same thing with another five or six blades getting the same feeling. Like they didn't belong in his had.

Then on the seventh one he grabbed, he could feel there was something different about it. The sheath was just an ordinary looking black wood with an orange spiral like the first one he picked up. With the handle wrapped in black cloth.

He didn't think it was much different then the others until he pulled the blade from its sheath. It was midnight black, with the sharp edge of the short sword being in a dark orange. It also had four seal done in the same dark orange on either side of the blade.

Naruto really didn't know much about forging but he could tell this was a work of art. That far out shined any of the other blades he had tried. He knew this was the blade for him just like Tenten said though he was curious about the seals on it.

"Hey Tenten, do you know what these seal are for?" He asked the brunette that was had started wiping down a few of the class display cases while he was looking.

"Give me a second and I'll take a look for you" she said putting up her cloth. Before walking over. Tenten gasped at the beauty of the blade. She could tell just by looking at it. It was one of the best ones in the store. She could recognize the four seals on the right side of the blade, but didn't have the foggiest on the ones on the right. Then she noticed what seemed to be a seal on sheath on the side that didn't have the spiral on it. Which Naruto hadn't noticed.

"well Naruto I can tell you what these four are" she said while pointing them out to him. "But I don't have a clue on the other five"

"Five asked the confused blond I thought there were only eight seals on it?"

"Well there is also one on the sheath" said Tenten pointing it out to the blond in front of her.

"Oh, I didn't notice that one" Naruto said with his Arm behind his head in embarrassment. "So what do the four seals that you do know about do?"

"well those four are pretty generic, they are chakra conversion seals. The one closest too the handle in a water chakra converter, the next one is a wind converter, the one after is fire and the last one is lightning. Though I think its a little weird a sword would have a water chakra converter on it seeing as its not the most useful in attacking. but the person must of had a reason for it." she said with a thoughtful look. "One second, Ill be right back" the weapon mistress said before running off up stairs before either blond could ask where she was going.

"So where do you think she went?" Ino asked the short haired blond next to her. "Don't know the crapper maybe." the blond said without thinking ,earning himself another slap upside the head.

It wasn't even five minutes when the brunette came back downstairs dragging a large bald shirtless man in a dark pair of shin-obi pants that was rippling with muscles. "Come on Oyaji, I want you to take a look at these seal and tell us what they are."

Naruto froze when he saw the man being dragged down the stairs by his daughter. He didn't recognize the man but the pounds of muscles and his large stature. Made the fox vessel very nervous, the only thing running through the blonds mind at the moment was crap. He had been hoping to make it through his shopping with Ino without running into any adults. But it seemed like his luck had just ran out.

The large man froze seeing the blade in the young mans hand. Causing his daughter to almost dislocate her shoulder when he became unmovable.

The man had not seen that blade since he sheathed it a little over 12 years ago when he had finished forging it. Because of the blood seal on its sheath. only someone of that mans blood could have pulled it out.

The boys resemblance to that man was uncanny. To think that he never realized that the Kyuubi vessel was the fourths Son, when anyone with two eyes should have realized it.

He was a seal master even if he wasn't even close to Jiraiya's or Minato's levels of skill. So he never thought of the boy as the demon sealed inside of him.

Naruto seeing the man Freeze, thinking it was because of the Fox sealed inside of him and was panicking inside. He would have made a run for it, but seeing as the man was blocking the only exit out of the basement. That left little chance of escape.

He was about to try and bolt anyways using his Kage-bushin as a distraction when he finally caught the man's eye. There was shock there, but there didn't seem to be any malice like most of the other villagers. Which helped to calm Naruto down enough to see how things were going to play out.

Tenten's dad had seen the look of panic on Naruto's face when he first saw him and couldn't help but feel horrible about how the villagers had to have treated him to get that kind of reaction.

Kenta Tadashi snapped out of his thoughts and continued to follow his daughter over to the two blondes. He had decided to ignore the questioning look his daughter and the blond girl shot him. Knowing he couldn't answer anyways.

He decided to relieve some of the blond boys worry about the situation he was in by introducing himself to the blond. "Hi I am Kenta Tadashi Tenten's father and you are?" he asked while holding his hand out to the blond in a less formal handshake. Naruto smiled up at the man, seeing he meant him no harm before taking the larger mans Hand. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and this is my friend Ino it's nice to meet you."

"Well it's nice to meet you too, Now Tenten was saying you had some questions about that sword in your hand." the man said with a smile.

"Oh yeah," the blond said remembering what they were talking about before Tenten had taken off. "I was wondering what you could tell me about this sword and the seals on it." The man looked down at the blade trying to remember what he could about it. He really didn't know much about what it was suppose to do though he did know a few things about it.

"Well that blade You have in your hand, I can say without a shadow of a doubt is one of the best blades I have ever forged. It was commissioned by a very close friend of mine before he died in the battle with the Kyuubi. I only know about the seals on the right side of the blade and the first one on the left. I also know about the one on the sheath. The one on the sheath is a blood seal meaning only a family member with the same blood running through their veins can pull it from its sheath. Meaning you are related to the person I forged that sword for but before you ask. I can't tell you who that is without the Hokage's permission and it wouldn't be my place in the first place. I am sorry about that knowing how important that is too you." Kenta said while looking down at the boy before him. Who was now looking at the blade in disbelief

Naruto's thoughts were running wild at the mention of family. He had wanted to grill the man about it but could tell by the way the man said it that it would be no use. He decided to find out as much as he could about the blade before asking the Hokage about it.\

"So what about the other seal on the blade?" the man looked sheepish at the question.

"Well I am sorry to say this but I can't tell you about that either without the Hokage's consent I really wish I could tell you but I can't." he said while looking down. "Though I can tell you a bit more about the blade and some of the functions the right side has."

Naruto was disappointed by the mans words but figured there must be a reason for it and he would have to ask the old man about that too later.

"That's alright, I am sure you have your reasons for this and I'll ask the old man about it later. But I would love to hear about these other function you were talking about."

Ino and Tenten were curious of the conversation between the two and why so many things seemed to need the Hokages permission to talk about. But didn't feel it was their place to butt into the conversation.

"Well the first thing you need to know about this blade is it is made out of ultra Rare metal that is the hardest I have ever seen. It was made out of a meteor that was found in the middle of fire country. It took some of the hottest flames imaginable to forge this blade. And It can stand up to any element without problem. Because of the hardness of the blade it will never need to be sharpened." all three of the teens were shocked to hear this and were looking at the blade with a lot more respect then before.

"As for the seals on the right of the blade. They are chakra converters as I am sure Tenten has told you but what she doesn't know about the seals is that they are all connected and can be used with one handed signs to form different Jutsu without having to worry about forming the elemental chakra. Which makes Jutsu that would be near impossible to do one handed much easier. Also the seals were put in that order for a reason. If you will let me see that blade for a second I will demonstrate what I mean."

Naruto hesitantly handed over the blade to the older man. " you see the water and wind chakra converters?" Naruto nodded to the mans question. "well if you use both together it will form the sub-element of ice" he said while pumping chakra through the blade causing it to freeze over. "If you use the fire and wind it will make the blades flames stronger and hotter then if you just used the fire" he said as he demonstrated making the three teens jump back from the extreme heat generated by the blade. "Also if you use the water and lightning it makes the charge running through the blade stronger."

Naruto and the girls were amazed by the blade, even not knowing what the other four seals did. Kenta just laughed at their shocked expressions. "I know it's an amazing blade" the smith said breaking them from their shock.

Naruto and the girls were amazed by the blade. Though Naruto had a growing dread thinking he could never afford to buy such a blade. The blond looked down at the floor.

"Yeah it truly is an amazing sword, though I doubt I could afford to buy something of such high quality" this brought a laugh from the man still holding the sword. " As I said I was commissioned to forge this sword meaning it has already been payed for and what use do I have for a sword that only you can draw." Kenta said while handing the sword back to the flabbergasted boy. "Its yours, just remember to use it to protect those you care about and we will call it even" the large man said. Totally shocking the three teens.

Kenta was almost knocked to the ground by the blond bullet that tackled him in a hug. Profusely thanking him for the sword. The large man just patted him on the back and laughed off the praise. "is there anything else you needed to get kid." as he extracted himself from the hug.

Naruto thought about it for a bit remembering what Tenten said about the book on sealing and the sealing supplies. "Well Tenten said you guys sell books on sealing and sealing supplies, I would also Like to get some exploding tags. If that's not to much trouble"

The man smiled at the blond again before sending Tenten off to get the basic book while he went about gathering about fifty blank seal tags and four blank scrolls. He also went and found some chakra ink and a new set of seal brushes for our blond hero.

"So what kind of exploding tags do you need. We can only sell the D,C, and B grade exploding tags to under Jounin rank. Naruto thought about it for a second can I get fifteen C grade and five B grade" the man nodded to the request. As he went behind the counter and got the requested items.

"So Kenta how much will that stuff come out to" Kenta thought about it for a second tallying up the cost of the items in his head about sixteen thousand four hundred twenty yen." Naruto smiled at the cost knowing he still had about forty thousand left. " hey Ino!" Naruto said interrupting the conversation she was having with Tenten. "what Naruto?" Ino called back from across the store where she was in the book section with Tenten. "Why don't you pick something out for helping me with my cloths shopping my treat he said." causing a smile to break out on the other blonds face

Naruto couldn't help but think she looked pretty when she smiled, which made him happy he thought to get her something. It didn't take long for her to find what she wanted. OK it didn't take any time at all seeing as she had her eye on it from when Naruto was looking at the Kodachi. It was a kodachi with a pure white sheath. The blade was silver with three white seals carved into the blade. The handle wrapping was a pale blue that got lighter the closer to the sheath making them meshed perfectly.

Ino had asked Tenten about the seals, and discovered they were pretty common. The first one closest to the hilt was just a sharpening seal, the next one was to make the steel stronger and the last one was what made the weapon truly dangerous. It was a wind chakra conversion seal. Which when used made the blade even sharper and could extend the blade even farther using wind chakra. Tenten also mentioned that skilled users of the blade could make a cutting wind fly from the blade becoming a ranged attack.

When Ino had tentatively asked Naruto if she could get it tapping her toe behind her. Acting like a kid asking for something they didn't think they were going to receive knowing it was kind of on the expensive side.

She had acted so cute that Naruto would have probably returned half the stuff he just got just so he could have gotten it for her. Though luckily that wasn't a required because he had more then enough for all of it.

When he had given her the ok she had shocked the hell out of him when he had gotten a hug from the girl much like the one he had given Kenta. Though Naruto not being as sturdy as him ended up on the ground with the girl in his arms.

Naruto couldn't suppress the blush on his face from the hug . Naruto could have counted the number of hugs he had received in his life on one hand. And conceitedly the only two from the female gender were from her.

The first one had shocked him so bad that he didn't really have a chance to enjoy it or really know what to do . This one he was a little more prepared for it then the last. He gently patted the girl on the back like Kenta did and told her she was welcome.

She had blushed a bright scarlet when she realized what she did. But she was so thankful and happy that she really didn't care that much.

After that he payed for his purchases and Tenten sealed them away inside of the sealing scroll with his other purchases. All except for Ino's new sword He thanked Kenta and Tenten again for everything and was told he was always welcome at the shop before heading for the exit.

When Ino and Naruto stepped out of the store. They were shocked to see that it was already Dark out. None more then Ino "Crap, crap, crap! I am so dead I was suppose to watch the shop" Ino said in a rush. Before Naruto had a chance to say anything Ino was half way down the street yelling over her shoulder. "Sorry Naruto, I had fun but I got to go. Thanks for the sword!"

Then she was gone leaving him to walk home alone thinking of the other blond and hoping she wouldn't get in to too much trouble for helping him out to day.

He couldn't help but let a smile cross his face. He had hung out with three people today that didn't hate him and even found a new shop that would welcome him. Not to mention his Awesome new Purchases. Today was a good day and he found himself lightly humming as he made his way back to his run down apartment.

**Authors notes: Hey again everyone, If anyone has any Idea's about what I should make the last three seals on Naruto's sword please Email me or leave a comment. Though I would prefer an email So I don't spoil the surprise if I do end up using your Ideal. I will me more then happy to mention you in my authors notes for any contributions **


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Notes: Hey again every one. I wanted to say thanks to everyone who reviewed and added me to their favorites and story alerts. I am very happy with the turn out this story has been getting. This story has already gotten over 14,000 hits and is on over 150 story alerts. I am excited to see how the turn out will be for this next chapter. Well Enough of that I now want to give out special thanks to everyone who has given me some great idea's for for the seal's on Naruto's Kodachi. These people are as followed Justwriter2, the wolf of the twilight, twin silver dragon, VanillaIce1 and ktm1488 If I forgot to mention anyone please be sure to tell me. I would also Like to thank a few of my reviewers for their helpful comments. These are also as followed kazemitsu, fox-Sama, Neilhighwind and Tristan76. If I didn't mention you it didn't mean your comment wasn't helpful or appreciated I hope to see more great comments from every one. But for now on with the story **

The Mission from hell

It was a new day. The sun had just now come over the horizon casting light on the village hidden in the leaves.

Naruto lay awake in his futon with his many ratty blankets laying around him. He had kicked most of them off during the night. Leaving him curled up in just a blue comforter and a few sheets.

He normally liked to cocoon himself under a mass of cloths and blankets.

He would often wonder if that warmth was anything like being held by a parent or a loved one.

His mind flashed to Ino and being held in her arms It showed him that being held like that was nothing like being cocooned in tons of blankets.

He smiled to himself knowing that he wouldn't have it any other way.

Suddenly there was a noise to his left his hand, shot out throwing one of his new shuriken. He heard a thunk as the metal was imbedded in the wood of his wall. "Damned_, _missed!" _damned rats, think they can get away with eating my ramen. _

There was a bit more mental grumbling from the blond. _ If that was a kunai I so would have gotten the little bastard. _ Naruto thought bitterly to himself he had always been better with kunai.

The blond didn't care about the new hole in his wall. It wasn't like there wasn't another three dozen or so other ones.

Naruto hated the rats with a passion that only someone who was forced to live with them could. With their constant scraping and scratching. They would also get into his meager amount of food.

Though he had to admit that rat hunting was his favorite accuracy training and he knew he wouldn't be nearly as good with a kunai without them to practice on.

It was so satisfying when he heard the splat of one of the little bastards when a kunai hit its mark. though he could do without having to clean the mess afterwords. that part sure wasn't any fun.

Naruto pulled himself from the last of his blankets and stumbled bleary eyed to his bathroom.

He threw off his boxers and night cap and hopped into the shower, then turned on the

water. The sudden blast of near freezing water shocked the last remains of sleep from his system.

He yelped while jumping out of the shower. He should have known that, that damned land lord of his wouldn't have gotten around to fixing the hot water. _ Guess I'll have to talk to the old man again to get him to fix it. I cant believe the only way to get that bastard to do anything is to get the Hokage to threaten to have the building condemned. Not that this place shouldn't have been condemned years ago. _Naruto thought to himself.

He really wished he could move but all the other apartments no matter how crummy would either turn him down straight out or charge him ungodly rent and utility's.

The only reason he could stay here was because the Hokage was keeping the place from being condemned and the landlord knew that he was the only reason for it.

So if he tried to kick the blond out, his building would be condemned within a week.

But that didn't keep the fat man that owned the place from making his life as hard as possible when ever he had the chance.

The hot water heater was just one example of that. Naruto could almost swear that fat ass did something to it himself just to give him a hard time.

He also never fixed anything unless Naruto went to the Hokage and complained about it. He would even say that he didn't pay his rent when he had, which is why the Hokage now pays for it from his monthly allowance so the man couldn't lie about it anymore.

Naruto grumbled about the unfairness of it all. Though it was a bit of a relief to know why he was treated so unfairly.

He went about his morning ritual of dressing and boiling water for his six cups of instant ramen. He would have had more but it was coming on the end of the month and if he wanted to have anything to eat in the next few days he would have to cut back a bit.

He quickly finished eating then he realized he had forgotten to change out his old equipment for the newer stuff.

He smiled at the reminder of his new friends and a new shop that wouldn't rip him off or chase him away. He quickly went about finding his sealing scroll that he had left in his new pants he had worn yesterday.

In his normal habit of getting ready he had totally forgotten all about his new cloths. so he was wearing the same thing he normally did. He frowned at that. He liked his new cloths and was very excited about them. So he really wanted to wear them.

He checked the clock on his wall and saw that he still had twenty minutes until he was to meet his team.

Deciding he had enough time to change as well. He unrolled his scroll and bite his thumb with his slightly larger then average canine.

He found the seal for his new clothes then pressed his bleeding thumb to it , with a burst of chakra his new clothes were all in a neatly folded pile in front of him.

It took him longer then normal to decide on what to wear. Not normally having such a wide selection to chose from.

He had decided to go with a pair of black pants with a taupe colored shirt. At the last second he had decided to wrap his arms with some black bandages that he had hidden in his closet, it helped to pull the new look together nicely in his opinion.

He had decided not to wear his new coat today seeing as it seemed pretty warm out. He mourned the lack of his signature orange but decided he could do with out it for at least one day.

He checked himself in the mirror deciding that he looked good. He thought it might be nice to get a larger selection of shirt colors later on. But only if he didn't bring Ino with him the next time he went.

He really didn't want to get stuck shopping all day again, even if he did have fun with the other blond.

He went back to his new scroll and repeated his earlier process only with the seal's for kunai, shuriken and ninja wire. They all popped out of the scroll with little difficulty. He quickly dumped his old stuff on his kitchen table and went to work re-equipping himself.

Naruto looked at the clock on his wall and knew he was going to be late. He wasn't too worried about it though.

Going by how late his teacher normally was, he should still have plenty of time to beat him to the training grounds.

He quickly unsealed his new sword and hid his scroll under a lose floorboard before hightailing it to his team's training ground.

When Naruto finally arrived at the training ground he was a good fifteen minutes late though there was still no sign of his chronically late sensei.

Sasuke had noticed Naruto's new appearance. He had done a good job of hiding his shock at seeing the blond in something other then his hideous orange jumpsuit.

All he did was give the blond a slight raise of the eyebrow in question of the new look. before he went back to his brooding.

He really couldn't be bothered enough to ask the dead last about his sudden change.

Plus he really didn't want to get Sakura screaming, aka talking again after he had finally got her to shut up.

Sakura was so into her current daydream about Sasuke that she didn't even realize that Naruto had arrived. She seemed to have a perpetual blush and would giggle every once in awhile. While looking off into space.

Naruto had quietly sat down by a tree forgoing his normal loud greeting not really being in the mood for it today.

Plus he really didn't want to get yelled at or hit just for trying to greet to his pink haired team mate.

Naruto wished he had brought his new book on seals so he could start learning about them while he waited for his late sensei.

But he didn't think of it in his rush to get here before his sensei. He should have know he didn't have to rush.

But his sensei always seemed to vary on how late he was , so people couldn't predict when he would show up. In the last three meetings his times varied from twenty five minutes to three hours.

Naruto was glad it was one of his later days. He really didn't want to see what Kakashi would do if he was late.

Not that the man had any room to complain with his habits.

Plus he really didn't think he would hear the end of it from his team or the ninja forces at large if he was ever later then Kakashi.

His musing was cut short when there was a puff of smoke and the normal greeting from his sensei filled the air.

"YO!" came Kakashi's voice followed by an angry "your late!" from his pink haired team mate. "sorry I'm late but when I stopped this morning for a cup of tea I had found out that I had forgotten my wallet and had to help clean dishes to pay off my bill." The man said with an embarrassed air to him.

It was actually one of his more realistic excuses and Naruto wondered if he was actually true for once.

He had decided he didn't have the right to yell at the man for being late when he was too. So bit back his normal accusations.

Sakura's angry voice yelled out "LIAR!" Like usual though the effect was lost with out the combined effort of the two.

It had shocked everyone in the clearing when he didn't yell at his sensei like normal as everyone looked at the blond, an uncomfortable silence descended on them.

Sakura and Kakashi were shocked at the new wardrobe not having seen it yet.

Sakura Idly thought it looked good on him until Inner Sakura smashed that thought with a Mallet and said "_Sasuke is still way hotter and better then Naruto in every way_."

Though she still blushed a little at the admission from her inner self that she thought he was hot.

Even if he wasn't in the same league as the dark haired avenger, in her eyes. But really who was she thought to herself.

Kakashi was having different thoughts about the blond. well let us all hope he was, because Naruto really didn't need his perverted sensei thinking he was hot. Not now, not ever!

Kakashi was taking in his new outfit and the sword strapped to his back. He couldn't place it but something seemed familiar about the blond.

It was right at the edge of his mind but he just couldn't grasp it. _Well at least Naruto Is finally taking being a Ninja seriously. Wonder why he didn't yell at me for being late like normal. _the Jounin thought to himself_. _He decided to ask the blond about that, deciding to put the new wardrobe aside for now, seeing that it was a good thing.

"Hey Naruto why didn't you yell at me for being late like normal or call me a liar?" he asked the blue eyed boy. Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. "well it didn't seem right to yell at you for being late, when I was running behind myself. And as for not calling you a liar this was one of your more reasonable excuses and could have really happened. So I really didn't know if you were lying.

Kakashi and his two teammates were shocked at the logic in his answer's. Though the main reason he didn't blow up was probably due more to the fact that he hadn't been waiting long enough to lose his temper yet and he was late so who was he to talk.

Kakashi was the first one out of his shock and decided to get the team meeting under way. "Today team we are going to do a few missions and afterwords we will be doing some team building exercises."

The team groaned at this, they had discovered last week exactly what he meant by missions. More like chores they all thought bitterly and the team training was just as bad for them. They couldn't work together to save their lives. It always ended with Sasuke and Naruto fighting and Sakura punching Naruto for bothering her Sasuke-kun.

Kakashi had told them he wouldn't teach them anything else until they got it down to his satisfaction. Which they hadn't even come close to yet.

Kakashi figured it wouldn't be wise to give them dangerous techniques if they were just as likely to hit their own teammate as the enemy they were fighting.

The team had gotten down the different guard positions and traveling formations and their places in them. But the attacking and defending as a team wasn't coming along at all.

Sasuke would always out pace Naruto in speed and not slow down so they could attack together.

Sasuke always wanted to take the head on attack blocking any of Naruto's attempts at attacking and Naruto's lack of actual taijutsu training made it so he couldn't predict what Sasuke's moves would be. Causing the blond to constantly get in the way at every turn.

Their sensei had been trying to get them to follow simple instructions. Sasuke would take the lead with Naruto following closely In his wake.

When Sasuke got to the target he was suppose to do a jump kick to the targets head causing the target to block leaving the enemy's body open for Naruto's attack. Then Sasuke was suppose break off to the right and Naruto to the left and attack in a pincher formation.

The problem with this was Sasuke always went too fast for Naruto to keep up ruining the opening attack. Then instead of doing as instructed Sasuke would attack from the front instead of the right causing the whole exercise to fail.

Meanwhile Sakura was suppose to be giving range support by flanking the enemy while her teammates held his attention and using throwing weapons and what little genjutsu she knew when she saw an opening or to help create one for the boys to attack.

But instead of doing as she was told she would either cheer Sasuke on or yell at Naruto for getting in his way.

At other times she seemed to go off into her own little dream world with a blush on her face and stars in her eyes. It was no wonder why Kakashi and any respectable ninja hated fan girls.

Kakashi would tell them what they were doing wrong as he dodged Sasuke's attacks until Naruto and Sasuke would get tangled up together in a heap of arms and legs.

As far as Kakashi was concerned it really wasn't Naruto's fault, he tried to do as instructed.

But he figured fight as a team, lose as a team and get punished as a team.

His punishments were the worst of the worst in D-rank missions. Since they generally had team practice after their missions and they had done so poorly yesterday.

Today was going to be hell on them. He couldn't wait for them to finally figured out his method of punishment for them. though he didn't see that happening any time soon. He had to suppress an evil laugh at the thought of what he had in store for them.

He had already told the Hokage which missions he had wanted for his team. They would get to chose between three of the worst missions he could find.

If they had done well in their training yesterday he would have gotten them something like a delivery mission or house watching or maybe even spying on some wife's husband who she thought was cheating on him.

He let out a small perverse giggle at the though of catching him in some compromising position.

The missions could be somewhat boring at times. but they were no where near as bad as what his team was going to be doing today.

Naruto and his team made it to the Hokage tower in relatively quick order. The walk was mostly quiet except for the constant begging for a date from their pink haired team mate.

Sasuke had snapped at her three times on the walk to the tower for all the good that did him. It only shut Sakura up a couple minutes at a time before she was bugging the dark haired avenger again.

Though the look of pain in her eyes during those minutes really tore at Naruto. He almost asked her out again just to try and cheer her up but decided against it, he really didn't want her to take her anger out on him.

He almost did it anyways because he hated to see a girl so sad. But managed to hold himself back, he figured with the way she normally turned him down in the most hurtful ways she could think of, that she kind of had it coming.

Not that he liked it he just didn't feel like taking the abuse that she would heap on him for trying to help.

Plus, she would get his new clothes dirty if she knocked him to the ground like normal.

So he held his tongue during the walk to the mission hall until they were standing in front of the Hokage.

The mission hall wasn't the most impressive place in Konoha It was just a big room with four tables stacked with scrolls and had three men sitting behind the tables.

On the wall behind the men was the symbol for fire. The Hokage was the man in the middle today and he had two assistants sitting on either side of him.

The Hokage couldn't hand out every mission but he liked to take the time to issue them as much as possible and today was one of those times.

He normally liked to give the missions to the Rookies even if they had to go to his office to get them.

He figured it was a good way to build trust and to get to know the new Genin and their abilities. He would also give out all A-S rank missions personally being the best qualified to do so.

With a bright an cheery smile Naruto greeted his all but in blood grandfather in his normal exuberance "Hey old man! How's it going?" which earned him a smack upside the head from his pink haired team mate. "Show Hokage-sama some respect Baka!" came Sakura's pissed voice. Which caused the Hokage to chuckle slightly.

Naruto didn't know that his normal out burst had greatly releaved a lot of stress his team's were under.

Naruto being so quiet was really starting to freak them out and that outburst had helped to alleviate some of their nerves.

They were still very curious about the sudden change in the blond and what could have brought it on.

Not only was he dressed in a respectable manner. He had also not been yelling all morning like he normally did.

They might have been surprised to find out that the reason he wasn't seeking attention as much as normal was the fact he had actually gotten some for once.

Someone had actually spent the whole day with him of their own free will and he didn't feel the need to get someone to notice him as bad as before. Well at least not for today.

Plus, he had a lot on his mind. He had finally remembered something while he waited for Kakashi to show up. that had nearly slipped his mind about yesterday.

He almost wanted to bash his head against the tree where he was sitting for forgetting something that held so much importance to him, but he held himself in check. He really didn't want his teammates to think he was going crazy.

The Kodachi strapped to his back had reminded him of his family and the fact that It was suppose to have belong to a member of it and he needed to speak to the Hokage about it. Plus He really wanted to find out about the other seals on his new blade.

Naruto decided on the walk that he would have to wait to talk to him about it . Because he really didn't want his team involved in it just yet.

Some might find it childish but he felt that this was a very personal topic and wanted to learn about it on his own.

Plus, he just knew he would never hear the end of it from Sasuke if he ended up crying or something like that.

He was also a lot more comfortable when speaking with the Hokage in private. So he held his curiosity in check for now. but he would get the answers he was looking for after his team was finished for the day or at least that was what he told himself.

The friendly environment of the mission hall turned all business when Kakashi stepped forward and said with authority causing his subordinates to stand at attention.

"Team seven reporting for our mission", he finished the mission part of his sentence in his normal lazy drawl having his moment of seriousness accomplish what he had intended.

The Hokage took a long drag from his pipe that the team didn't notice he had.

The Hokage looked at Kakashi with a twinkle in his eye already knowing the answer but protocol was protocol after all. "What rank will it be today Kakashi" the old man asked with practiced easy.

Causing the Genin to tense slightly, hoping for a challenge. Kakashi took his time answering the Hokage, making his team's heart rate pick up and them to tense even more.

"Well Hokage-sama it will have to be A ….D-Rank" he said in a deadpan voice causing two of his teammates to face plant and the other to grunt in annoyance.

The Hokage almost couldn't suppress his mirth at his Jounin's actions. but managed it by taking another long drag from his pipe. He exhaled the smoke slowly as he pretended to look through some notes on his desk.

"Well team Seven it looks like we have three missions for you to chose from today." though if he was being honest there were closer to three dozen.

"First we have a mission from the local butcher which includes disposing of the waste products from the last three days and cleaning his backroom," The kids almost blanched at having to do that mission.

"Then there is A farm on the east side of the village that needs its stables cleaned out and his pigs given their yearly shots." again the kids blanched

"and last but not least the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat has gone missing and she wants a team to find and retrieve it for her." The kids heaved a sigh of relief at this last mission.

Thinking they would get out of having to do a really horrible mission today.

If the kids had noticed the eerily similar smirks that passed on all our of the adults faces.

They might have known something was up but the looks passed as quickly as they came and they were left blissfully unaware of what they were in for today.

"So team what mission do you guys want to take today?" Their Jounin sensei asked them. In perfect unison the three of them said "Well take the cat!"

Kakashi smiled at that it was the first time they had done anything together as a team. Even if they had just sealed their own fate but that was what the man had been hoping for from the beginning.

If it was him who had to chose, that would have been the last mission he would have taken. But luckily for him he was here solely as an observer. Most would say he was sadistic bastard and guess what, most would be right.

He couldn't fully contain the evil laugh that threatened to break from his lips. Be he managed to change it to a perverse sounding giggle at the last second.

When his team looked at him funnily he had his trusted book in his hand like nothing was out of the ordinary. "what?" he said as innocently as he could.

The team decided to forget about it. but for some reason that they couldn't explain that sound sent a shiver up their spines and not in a good way.

Kakashi retrieved their mission scroll and dossier on their target It had a brief description and a picture of the Cat.

The cats name was Tora which literally means tiger, it had dark brown fur with lighter stripes of brown going down it's back from head to tail and some on his checks.

It had a red bow on its ear and was last seen in the innermost business district of Konoha.

The Team having a place to start their search for the wayward cat made their way towards the business section in hopes of it still being in the area.

To their dismay they found out the business district was about a third of the village and Konoha was more of a small city then an actual village.

It was three long tiresome hours later that they finally spotted the cat.

As luck would have it, It was out side the very butchers shop which they had avoided working at earlier today.

The cat was cautiously stalking around towards the back of the shop when it spotted the ninja sent to retrieve it.

What the dossier on the cat didn't say was that this particular cat ran away on a near weekly basis. It had developed a deep hatred and fear of all Ninja knowing they were going to take it back to it's own personal hell.

If they had known that they would have approached the cat from the shadows and grabbed it before it even knew they were after it. Instead of calling it's name and trying not to spook it as they tried to get the cat to come to them.

So needless to say when the cat saw them it bolted into the back door of the butchers shop. With the three swearing Ninja hot on its trail.

They chased it into the shop and thought they had it cornered in front of three garbage cans. Sakura whispered to her three companions "On the count of three, One, two, THREE!"

The three Ninja jumped at the cat trying to catch the hissing thing. The cat jumped over the pink haired one in the middle and bolted for the door.

Leaving the three ninja to crash into the garbage cans full of smelly,stinky, rank, vile leftover animal blood, organs and other miscellaneous parts.

Naruto was pissed after all that effort to keep Sakura from getting his new clothes dirty they were now covered in some of the most disgusting stuff imaginable.

He was glad that ninja had a special cleaning solution for getting blood and other unseemly substances out of clothing.

But that didn't change the fact that his new cloths were now covered in blood guts and other disgusting substances he really didn't want to think about.

By the time they pulled themselves out of the mess they looked like they had just got done with an S ranked mission with the amount of blood on them.

The smell was so bad it caused Sakura too barf all over the place. The boy gagged at the smell but managed to keep themselves from barfing like Sakura did. "O god it smells!" Sakura whined after expelling her breakfast

They rushed to the door, but the cat was already gone. "I'LL KILL THAT DANMED CAT!" an Irate Naruto screamed. "SHUT UP BAKA! WE NEED THE BASTARD ALIVE" came an equally pissed Sakura.

Though inner Sakura was cussing up a storm at the fact they couldn't kill the cat. Sasuke's eye just twitched in irritation.

After all that searching and they had missed their target. Not to mention being covered in such vile stuff.

Kakashi on a rooftop watching their progress decided to move to a building up wind from them all the while chuckling to himself.

He had seen which way the cat went but he was only there to observe and he wasn't about to make this easy for his team. That would ruin the whole aspect of it being a punishment.

He chuckled to himself as they tried to ask a random person on the road which way the cat had gone. The person had pointed in a random direction just to get the smelly teens away from him.

Luck was on their side, because by random chance the man had pointed in the correct direction. Not that the man had known this. He had just wanted them to go away. Taking the horrid smell with them.

The three teens made haste down the road while Naruto grumbled a few of the many methods of skinning a cat under his breath.

It was a good twenty minutes later that they caught up with the cat it was drinking some water from someone's pet's water bowl on the other side of a fence.

The cat had tensed up when they got within twenty yards of it but it didn't bolt yet it seemed to be on high alert though.

What the Ninja didn't know was that the cat knew they were there having smelled the vile substance on them long before they were in view.

The cat had ran off so often that it knew some good ways to slip it's pursuers and this yard happened to have one of its escape routes.

Not too mention two very mean rottweilers, which was why the cat was so quiet while entering the yard.

It had played dumb to the three's movements when they got in position on a roof next to the fence.

When the three jumped from the roof over the fence. Tora bolted through a gap in the fence leaving the three trapped with two very mean rottweilers.

The dogs hadn't noticed the cat in their Territory but they did notice when the three blood covered teens jumped over their fence after said cat.

The dogs had gone wild at the smell coming from the teens. Never let it be said that dogs didn't like to eat some disgusting things.

By the time the three ninja had gotten out of the yard. they had been bitten multiple times and had almost had to attack the dogs to escape.

luckily for them they hadn't because they were the ones trespassing and would have gotten in a lot of trouble for hurting someones pets even if it was in self defense.

The grumbling from the blond had gotten much more explicit in the ways he wanted to kill the cat they were chasing.

The other team members didn't seem to mind their blond teammates rantings, having their own dark thoughts about the fur ball they were chasing.

For reasons they couldn't explain they just knew that wasn't a chance occurrence and the cat had some how planned it.

The three teens had no clue where the cat had gone.

so with a brilliant idea from Naruto. In which he blanketed the area with his shadow-clones and had them search for their missing prey.

They had found their target in no time. Too bad for them that by the time they made it to where the shadow-clone had found it. It was already gone.

This continued on for another three locations, before they figured out the cat could track them with their smell giving them a brilliant Idea.

Sakura would go get washed up being the one to threaten them for the right.

It had shocked the boys when she had even glared at her precious Sasuke-kun daring him to disagree that it should be her to get the vile smelling sludge off.

When she returned and the shadow-clones found the foul beast again. She sneaked behind it and the boys came up on it acting as decoy's giving her a chance to catch it.

She had almost had it when she stepped on a twig at the last second and the damned cat barely got away.

The amount of swearing that came from the three would have put any sailor or veteran Ninja to shame.

Kakashi couldn't help but take notes at a few of the colorful words coming from their pink haired teammate.

He didn't even know you could use half of those words in that way but she seemed to make it work.

Kakashi was happy. That last attempt was the most teamwork he had ever seen from them and they had come so close to achieving their objective.

He decided they deserved a reward for actually working together and had gotten the their attention by tossed each of them a small earphone walkie talkie set to help them coordinate their efforts.

The team deciding that, their last tactic wouldn't work again and to have the two boys rush home and get as much of the foul smelling sludge off of them as they could.

There was still a slight odor on the three of them but it was no where near as bad as before.

After getting cleaned up Naruto sent his clones to find the hell cat again.

He was in luck having found it on the east side of the village just 20 minutes after sending out his clones.

The cat was on top of a small barn looking back and forth nervously searching for his pursuers. It had failed to notice the clone before it expelled itself letting Naruto and his team know the cat location.

They surrounded the small barn, and in a soft voice Sasuke started the count down. "On three, one, two, three!" the three of them jumped onto the small barn trying to catch the cat.

They had not taken into consideration that a small wooden barn like that wouldn't be able to support their all their weight and ended up crashing through it and landing in a feces infested pig pen.

Not only did the cat escape but they were now covered in pig shit after just getting cleaned up.

The team after cussing and yelling threats at the missing cat returned to their apartments again to get cleaned and changed.

Naruto had, had enough of this fucking cat. It was getting caught if it was the last thing he did. It had already gotten two sets of his new clothing dirty and It had been evading them for hours.

Finally it was his turn to make the plan to catch the cat and he was going to be damned if that bastard got away again.

He had sent wave after wave of shadow-clones to find it. He located it resting in a training ground a bit outside of the village. He had decided on a pretty simple plan at least as far as he was concerned.

Naruto was done playing nice with the kitty and decided that they were going to need to play ruff with the feline if the wanted any hopes of catching it.

So before they made contact with the cat he had sent his clones around the area to set up snares, net traps and pit falls.

His plan was really very simple Sasuke and Sakura would attack the beast. With kunai and fire Jutsu. when the cat panicked and ran they would use their attacks to lead it to the hiding Naruto.

Naruto would then jump down from a tree with a ton of shadow-clones and catch the cat. If he missed the cat then the traps around the area would catch it. Though he didn't plan on missing.

He kind of hoped that one of his teammates would get a lucky shot in and kill the bastard even if it meant failing the mission and going through all of this for nothing.

But no pay and the mark on their record held them back.

Not to mention the team really didn't want to look bad or get in trouble with the fire Daimyo or his wife even if it would almost be worth it.

After the preparations were complete the team, sneaked up on three sides of the cat coming in a triangle pattern. When they were in position Naruto's voice came over the line. "Orange fox in position" then came Sasuke's "black falcon is In position" Last came Sakura's "Blushing bride is in position"

It took all of Naruto's and Sasuke's will power not to laugh or groan at her code name and give away their position, but they managed if only barely.

Naruto's voice came back over the line. "On three, One, two, three!"

Sakura and Sasuke sprang from their hiding place and started flinging kunai and shuriken at the cat herding it towards their hidden team mate.

After a fire ball from Sasuke caused the cat to jump right under the tree that Naruto was laying in wait in.

Naruto jumped from the tree and with a quick set of hand seals and a puff of smoke there were now ten Naruto's descending on their pray.

The cat had panicked and in its shock had no place to go and with a final lunge from the blond he grabbed a hold of the cat.

It clawed, hissed and bit at him. But it was of no use, Naruto wasn't going to let it get away again. Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and asked with all his authority "do you have conformation on the target" the man asked.

"conformation confirmed, red bow on one ear and tiger like markings, this is the right cat" Naruto said with a cheer. They had finally caught the hell cat.

Naruto squeezed the cat a little tighter then necessary taking a bit of sick pleasure in its struggles but eased up after a bit.

Never let it be said that Naruto was cruel or unforgiving even if he had every right to want to torture the beast in his hands. It wouldn't do to accidentally kill the thing after it took eight hours to caught.

Naruto and his teams trek back to the Hokage's office was done in silence all of them dead tired after their ordeal. Though Naruto couldn't help gloating a bit.

The main thought running through the Genin's minds was that they should have taken one of the other missions.

Not only would they have smelled better then they did now. but they would have been done hours ago.

It was already going on five thirty and the sun was just about to crest over the horizon. The team really hoped Kakashi would have pity on them and let them off of training for the day.

After arriving at the mission hall and waiting for the fire Daimyo wife to come and retrieve her cat.

The woman had nearly squeezed the thing to death explaining why it ran away in the first place. After they got their mission pay, they left the tower.

Kakashi had stopped his team right outside the Hokage tower having decided to have pity on his team. "OK team since it's getting so late today, we won't be having team training and you guys can have the day off tomorrow. We will meet at the bride Monday morning at seven for our next mission."

The three heaved a sigh of relief at the announcement. After retrieving his walkie talkie's from his team he said a quick "later" before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura was so tired that she didn't even try and ask Sasuke for a date. "see you Naruto, bye Sasuke-kun" she said in a tired voice before heading home to soak in a nice hot bubble bath and get some sleep.

Sasuke was so tired he didn't even glare or say anything to his last team mate. He just grunted and then went home.

Naruto watched his team walk away. He was pretty beat himself with how many times he used his shadow-clones to search the village.

He remembered he wanted to talk to the Hokage, but figured it could wait until tomorrow since he didn't have a team meeting and could do it then.

But for now all he really wanted to dot was eat some ramen and go to bed.

So he made the trek home and started to boil some water for his ramen. He decided to eat while he soaked in a bath.

So he drew himself a bath and started soaking his new cloths in some of his special ninja cleaner in his sink before the stains set to deep.

He couldn't help but sigh as he sank into the hot bath water. It seemed like that lazy land lord of his had actually fixed the hot water heater while he was gone. He must not have wanted the Hokage to get involved again.

Naruto didn't know this, but the old man had found out from Kakashi earlier that the hot water heater wasn't working when he had been grumbling about it after another cold shower to get the rank blood from the butchers shop off.

Kakashi had heard him complaining about it and sent a shadow-clone to inform the Hokage.

Who in turn sent a not so nice message to the land lord to get it fixed.

Naruto had soaked while he ate his seven bowls of ramen. After he finished eating he scrubbed with lots of soap and washed his hair before getting out and dressing in his pajamas.

He then tiredly climbed into his bed.

His head had barley hit the pillow before he was fast asleep having never been this exhausted before.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey again everyone. so as to not sound like a broken record I wont be apologizing for not updating sooner. I have actually had to re-write this chapter about three times for various reasons and have had this done for some time but I procrastinate and kept putting it off posting it and then losing. I asked some one to beta this for me but they haven't gotten back to me so I decided to post it in its raw form so I don't end up having to rewrite it again. well I guess on with the story see previous disclaimer

It was dark out Ino, awoke suddenly in a sweat, gasping for air. It had been a the same for the last three nights since she had last seen Naruto. She kept having the same reacquiring nightmare. She couldn't help but shudder at her night time visions and that Naruto had actually had to live through them.

She had been dreaming of being down a dank dark ally with faceless people holding her down cheering and yelling encouragement as someone slowly started to bring a blade to her face. She normally woke up just as the knife touched her skin.

The dream always brought the memory of the gashes she had seen on Nartuo's face and what he must have gone through and with that though came the thought of what if it had been her. The though of being disfigured for the rest of her life scared the living daylights out of her.

Most people would say that Ino was vain and even she would admit to that at least to a certain extent. But she wasn't as superficial as most people thought she was. She cared about her looks and knew she looked good but it was never something that she thought made her better then anyone else. Well OK... maybe a little better.

She just liked the way it made her feel to know people found her attractive and the confidence that it brought her. She couldn't think of what it would be like for all that to be gone in such a horrific way. To have those adoring looks suddenly changed to pity and remorse.

She was really glade for Naruto's healing ability and that he wouldn't have to go through that but she still felt horrible for the pain he must have endured.

She had wanted to check in on him for the last few days and make she he was doing OK. But she had gotten grounded for not watching the shop when she went shopping with Naruto. then she had to go to team training and hadn't had a chance to look for her new friend.

She was hoping she would have time to find him after her teams mission today. So she figured she would really have motivate Shikamru and Chouji today.

She just knew she would be screaming herself hoarse just to get them to finish in a reasonable time so she could see how he was doing.

Ino looked at her clock and noticed it was a little past five in the morning. It was still to a little early to start the day and too late to try and get back to sleep. She groaned to herself before shutting off her alarm clock

she climbed out of bed and started to remove her tight clingy boxer shorts and sweat soaked tank top that she had worn to sleep the night before leaving a trail of cloths to her bathroom.

Anyone who could see in the dark and was up at this ungodly hour would have gotten quite the show if they looked through her bedroom window.

Ino stood in front of her full length mirror completely nude taking in her tangled hair, glossy pink lips smooth shimmering skin and her new curves that had just started to come in.

Her eyes trailed down her figure taking everything in from her small perk breasts to the small amount of blond hair just above her woman hood. Checking for any blemishes or other things out of place. Seeing a bit more hair on her legs then she would like not that anyone would have noticed with how fine and blond her hair was.

she stepped into her shower stall and started to wash away the sweat and grime she accumulated during the night. When she finished with her body she grabbed her shampoo and conditioner combo. It was a special blend of flowers and herbs she made herself that helped to keep her hair in such good shape.

After she finished with that she grabbed her razor and shaving cream and started to remove any access hair she could find. She finished with practiced easy and just stood under the steaming hot water letting it wash away what ever stress she had left from her dream.

Her muscles relaxed under the gentle flow of the hot water cascading down her back and massaging her scalp.

The water slowly cleared her mind of the disturbing images from the night before. She decided she needed to start doing the meditative exercises her father taught her to help deal with disturbing minds before she went to bed to help her deal with the nightmares.

The though of her father brought a small smile to her face. She had the man so wrapped around her little finger that It wasn't even funny. She was daddy's little girl and always got what she wanted.

By the time Ino finally finished her shower it was already going on six forty five. She spent another thirty minutes getting dressed and putting her hair in its normal pony tail.

She had decided that she would only where a light amount of lip gloss today because she really didn't like to use much makeup not like she needed it anyways. She smiled as she looked in the mirror one last time before heading to the kitchen to make herself something to eat.

When she looked in the in her frig she was shocked to see that she was out of food again. She huffed in annoyance and figured she may as well eat out today.

She still had until ten thirty when her team would be meeting up to do missions and it was only around seven thirty so she had some time to kill anyways.

Though it always annoyed her how late her team meetings. Most teams would already be started by now but her lazy sensei and team just didn't have the motivation that the others had and it was like pulling teeth to get them to do anything

At least her sensei was smart enough to pick their missions the day before so they wouldn't get stuck with the leftovers from the other teams.

Ino grabbed her weapons poach and headed out to find something to eat.

- - - - - - - - - - - - –

Meanwhile on the other side of town another blond was rushing around his apartment throwing on the first cloths he came across.

Which seemed to have turned out OK for him because he still ended up wearing some black baggy pants and a forest green shirt.

Naruto didn't have team training today but he was still rushing because he wanted to try and meet with the Hokage before he got bogged down in meetings.

Naruto had been trying to talk to the Hokage for the last three days but the old man hadn't had the time to talk to him.

When ever Naruto tried to see the Hokage he was either in meetings with the council or was busy with important paper work that couldn't wait.

From what Naruto had gathered there where some foreign dignitaries in town negotiating some sort of trade agreement with the old man.

He was pretty sure it was some special metal or something like that and it seemed it was pretty important to demand so much of the old mans time.

Every other time Naruto had seen the Hokage in the last three days he had been with his team and he really didn't want anyone to know about what he was talking to the Hokage about.

He felt it was a personal matter and he didn't want anyone to know about it but him. He might have been being childish about it.

But this was about his parents and he felt like he should know about them before anyone else did.

He was also worried that the fox might be brought up with the subject and really couldn't have his team around when he asked about it.

Then there was the fact he really didn't want anyone to know anything about his new sword seeing as it was the only thing he had from his parents.

Naruto rushed out of the house heading towards the Hokage tower. It was a good twenty minute roof hopping distance from his house.

During the trip Naruto couldn't help but think that the old man would most likely do what he normally did when Naruto brought up the subject of his parents. Either change the subject or make some excuse to get him out of his office.

The most the old man had ever told him on the subject was that they loved him dearly and that they would be proud of him.

But beyond that the old man had been tight lipped with anything to do with them. He wouldn't even tell him their names which had greatly upset the blond.

The first time the old man had denied him Naruto had refused to talk to him for a week and it took a whole lot of ramen to get him to forgive him.

The old man had later told him that he would tell him some day but he would have to wait until he was older and that he had his reasons for not telling him about them know.

Naruto figured the old man would do so again, but he was really hoping he would slip up and give him more information to go on. If not just out right tell him who they were.

Even if He didn't find out about his parents today at least he now had some place to start his search which is more then he could say for before.

He also hoped the Hokage would have information on his new sword and what it could do. Seeing as the blacksmith told him to ask him about it.

Naruto had made it to the tower while deep in though it wasn't long before he was standing in front of the thirds door. Naruto took a deep breath and let it out slowly preparing himself for what ever the Hokage would say on the subject.

While at the same time trying to keep his enthusiasm down about possibly finding something out about his family.

Though he was trying to keep expectations down knowing that he likely wouldn't be getting the answers. He couldn't help but let a slight amount of hope infiltrate his thoughts that this would be the time the old man would tell him about his family.

Naruto then plastered his happy face on and barged into the Hokage's office pretending that he didn't have anything important on his mind in the hopes of catching the old man off guard.

"Hey old man!" the bright sounding blond greeted. Breaking the Hokage from his reading getting a slight smile from the old man.

"Hey Naruto what brings you by so early in the morning?" Greeted the aged leader. Suddenly becoming slightly suspicious at the youngsters motives in coming.

He knew Naruto wasn't an early riser by nature preferring to train late into the night instead of early morning

Naruto catching the old mans look of suspicion gulped audibly knowing that the element of surprise was now out the window.

The old man would be watching him like a hawk and be ready for anything. Especially after that last prank he pulled on the old man.

Naruto finally decided to end with the pleasantry letting his mask slip from his face as he looked up at the old man. His face was now etched in determination, sadness and hope.

The Hokage had been surprised at how fast the change from goofy odd ball to deadly serious occurred and he could already guess what this conversation had to do with.

It could only possibly be two things that the Hokage could think of or at least only two other occasions where he was ever this serious. So it either had to do with the Kyubi or his parents.

The old man was leaning towards the latter seeing as their didn't seem to be any issues with the seal or anything like that.

The blond looked at the old man before finally asking his question. He decided to screw it and come out with what he wanted.

I want to know who my parents are Hokage sama. He decided in a rare show of respect how important this was to him. Naruto took a nee and bowed his head to his leader waiting for what the old man would finally say to him.

Sarutobi looked at the blond in front of him. He took another long drag from his wooden pipe. He knew he couldn't tell him about his family yet especially his father.

The boy just wasn't strong enough yet to handle that information or the enemy's that could come if the information ever got out.

Sarutobi then thought of how well the blond had been keeping the information about the fox quite and decided that even if he couldn't tell Naruto anything about his father he might just be able to with his mother.

He decided there was very little chance about Naruto finding out anything about his mothers relationship with his father or even that much about the woman in general beyond what he would tell him about her especially after the rules he was going to put on the information he was about to give him.

He figured this would be a good test to see if he could trust the boy with his other parent identity.

The third let out one more puff of smoke before he started to speak to the now fidgeting teen.

"OK, Naruto as you know there are reasons why I keep your parents identity from you. Which is to protect you and this village."

Naruto let out a sigh of disappointment thinking the old man wasn't going to tell him anything again.

"So I won't be able to tell you much about your parents and there will be rules you must swear to follow if I am going to give you this information."

The old man had the sternest and most serious expression the young boy had ever seen on the old man. Telling him just how serious he was with this.

Even so Naruto would promise near anything to get the information he was seeking. So looked the old man in the eye. " what is the promise"

The old man smiled at the resolve in the youngster. First this information is strictly between you and me and you can't ask anyone or let on that the person I am about tell you about has any significance to you to anyone.

unless you know you can trust them and with the S-class secret of the kyubi and they cant tell anyone about it under being charged with treason for risking village security and being put to death. So I think its best if you don't bring it up to anyone at all until I tell you otherwise.

Though I will leave it up to you on who you will trust with this secret remember the less people who know the better.

Naruto just nodded to what the Sarutobi said agreeing to what the old man said after all A ninja village was built around secrets.

Naruto watched in anticipation when the old man went through six quick hand seals before placing his hand on the side of his desk causing a secret compartment to open in the wall on the other side of the room.

The old man rose from his chair making his way to the hidden chamber. He took a couple steps out of the straight path probably to avoid a couple traps that we activated when the compartment was opened

He pulled a few files, scrolls and what seemed to be a picture from it before making his way quietly back to his desk. He placed his hand back on the side of his desk and with a click the compartment was gone.

After the old man sat, he shuffled the items he got out of the safe into proper order. Stalling for time to make the suspense increase.

Before he did something unexpected for all those in the room he simply said Anbu. Causing four hidden figures to appear surrounding Naruto. He then ordered them to vacate the room and make sure the room stays secure from the out side.

He then looked at Naruto one more time before handing him a picture of a beautiful red haired woman in her mid twenty's. She seemed to be seated at a familiar Ramen Stand decked out in her green Jonin vest. Noodles still in her mouth giving the peace sign with the biggest smile on her face that Naruto had ever seen.

He couldn't help a smile lighting his face at the display in the picture and that he could see just how much the two of them must have been alike.

He noticed a few features that he must have inherited from his mother. His bright smile and Ramen addiction included. Though he didn't look to much like her, leading Naruto to think he might take more after his father or perhaps his mothers father had blond hair.

Naruto couldn't help a tear coming to his eye. He could tell just by looking at this woman in all her happiness. That she would have been a fun loving mother, just looking at the picture sent any thoughts of the woman not loving him flying from his mind.

It made him sad and happy at the same time. The knowledge that he could have had a loving mother to care for him. Take care of him and treat his as any child should have been and that she had been ripped from his life before he could even remember her.

He wanted to know everything about the woman in the picture his mother.

He looked at Sarutobi so many questions burning through his mind. But before he could ask the old man in front of him anything he started to speak.

"The woman In the picture is your mother Kushina Uzumeki aka The red death, and I know you have a lot of questions about her but before you ask any questions let me tell you the basics about her first."

He said stopping Naruto from bombarding him with questions. Naruto nodded not really taking his eyes off the image of his mother. As he was trying to engrave it into his memory.

Sarutobi took another drag from his pipe before speaking again. Kushina Uzumeki found by Anbu after an Attack destroyed the hidden village in the whirlpool. She was the late leaders only daughter and the last of her family. The uzumeki were renowned as kenjutsu and funjutsu users and had very high chakra reserves.

Her nickname the red death, named because of the blood red sword she used to cut a path of destruction through enemy ranks in the last war. Which is also placed in a seal on a scroll I will give you later.

The Uzumeki also specialized in water jutsu and had an uncanny ability to learn them even if it wasn't there main elemental affinity.

They often unlocked it as a secondary affinity fairly quickly if they trained in it. Sarutobi read from a Random file that he had pulled out about his mother and her family.

Your Mother joined our village after an attack on her village at the age if sixteen and was made a chunnin because of her previous training .

She raised through the ranks quickly during the war taking out tons of enemy troops and making many enemy's along the way. She made jounin rank at the age of eighteen and Anbu a twenty. Later rising to the Rank of Anbu captain.

She had made quite the Name for herself in her younger years and if any of her enemy's inside or out side the village found out she had a son they would want to kill you to take revenge on her for killing so many of their loved ones.

Naruto nodded to this, though he couldn't seem to see the woman in the picture as some insanely strong killing machine. He just couldn't picture the loving woman in the picture like that. But he acknowledged the fact that his mother was a powerful ninja. Naruto was starting to get upset about the information he was receiving.

This was all nice things to know, but he didn't want her military record he wanted to know more about the woman herself. Her Favorite food, her favorite place in the village, her goals for life Her dislikes. Who her closest friends were and if any of them were still around.

He was about to say just that but Sarutobi beat him to the punch again. When he suddenly produced one of the scrolls he had hidden in the hidden compartment. He then opened it and bit his thumb before spreading his blood on the sealing scroll. A small burst of chakra later a leather bound book was in the old mans hand.

This Naruto is one of your moms earlier diaeresis from when she was younger. It was one of the few personal things she managed to grab before she escaped her Island home.

She has two other diaries from her time in Konoha but this is the only one that doesn't have mention of your father in it which needs to be kept quiet and I can't tell you about him until you make chunin and you cant tell anyone about him until you make Jounin. So I wont be able to give you the other diaries.

Naruto nodded to this, still not liking the Hokage keeping his mothers things from him but he was still grateful to the old man for at least telling him this much about his mother and giving him some way of getting to know her.

Also your mother manage to grab the rest of whirlpools Treasury and their Jutsu library making her a very wealthy woman who bought two properties and two business in Konoha.

The Business have been being run by two different family's who are also business partners who earn a percentage of the profits for running the shops They are being watched over by her lawyer making sure the business are being run properly and the proper amount of earning are deposited into the Uzumeki accounts each quarter.

Her houses are currently vacant with seals in place to perserve the places from aging. Unfortunately I will also have to withhold your inheritance from you until your mothers name can come out.

Too many people would notice that much money being transferred to you and where it came from. Same thing with the houses and business.

"I might be able to do something with a few of her lower lvl jutsu scrolls plus do not worry about not getting the money yet Naruto."

"I will give you a special allowance from my personal account which you can pay me back when you finally receive your inheritance."

"What do you say about triple the amount you currently receive each month. That added on with the amount you make from missions will be s tidy little sum each month also if you need to borrow more money for something big you can talk to me about it." said the kindly old man.

Naruto just nodded dumbly. This was a lot of money the old man was talking about here. So he couldn't see how not getting his full inheritance was really hurting him.. he wanted to ask the old man about the actual numbers in her accounts.

but by the way the Hokage was talking about it this was like only a drop in the bucket to the amount he would receive later on. After thinking about it Naruto got a sly smile on his face, He decided to ask the old man about possibly making one of those bigger purchasing he was talking about earlier.

"Hey old man", Naruto said finally breaking the old mans tangent. "I was thinking maybe I could get one of those bigger purchases now." said the blond with a mischievous smile.

The Hokage looked at the blond in speculation. "What did you have in mind Naruto?" the third finally asked.

"Well the apartments where I live at are currently for sale. They are a bit rundown, but that is mostly just cosmetic damage that might need some drywall of or boards put up. But the building is sound and up to code.

Though my apartment is the worst out of them all because the land lord doesn't like me and refuse to fix any of the problems when they happen.

Even though the place isn't that bad people still refuse to live near the demon which has caused quite a few vacancy and rent to go down which is the main reason the place is selling so cheap.

I was thinking I could buy the place but have it stay in your name until it can be explained how I came by so much money.

You could then make me care taker of the place and I could fix the place up using the extra money I will be making each month. The blond said in excitement.

The old Kage looked at the blond for a second. "Well it sounds like a good investment and it is your money to use as you wish. I am just giving it to you out of my accounts for now. So I guess it would be OK for you to do this as long as it stays in my name for now." Said the old man

"This property will still be yours though and you can do what ever you like with it." Naruto had a large smile on his face at that.

Though keep in mind you will also have to pay property taxes and maintain the building and take care of all other aspects of owning your own property

The thing he always loved the most about his apartment was the view it gave of the monument and he figured he could fix up the whole top floor into a kind of condo for himself and fix up and rent out the rest of the rooms to ninja for a reduced price.

Naruto stopped his planning on what to do with his soon to be his new apartment and decided to see if he could learn anything else about his mother.

"Hey Old man is there anything else you were going to tell me about my mother" the blond asked.

"Well Naruto there isn't much more I can tell you about her at the moment. But there is a letter that has been left to you from her."

The old man said holding said letter out to the blond boy. Naruto took the letter from the old man hesitantly.

What ever was in this letter would be the only time his mother really spoke to him and to be honest it scared the shit out of him and excited him at the same time. The old Hokage seeing the boys hesitancy decided to give him a chance at privacy and some time to figure everything out.

"Naruto that letter is yours, and I think it would be best if you opened it in some privacy and in your own time. I only want you to open that letter when you are ready."

The subdued blond nodded to the old man. Taking his advice to heart, Naruto figured he found out enough for tonight and didn't think he could handle any more ups and downs with his emotions. So he would wait until later to read his letter.

He slipping the letter and diary into his Inner coat Pocket to keep them safe until he could look at them later.

He then turned to the Hokage, he decided now would be a good time to ask about his new sword . Hopeful it would distract him from everything else flying through his mind at the moment and give him something else to focus on.

The Hokage's voice broke him out of his thoughts when he asked if there was anything else he could help him with. He pulled the blade from the place on his back. Seeing the surprised look on the old mans face when he saw the blade in his hands and the few seals he could see on the blade.

"Where did you come by such a sword Naruto?" asked a shocked Sarutobi. He had heard that the fourth was designing seals for a sword but he hadn't known that it had actually been made.

But the seal for the thunder god technique was clearly carved on the hilt of the sword. He now wished he had listened more to Minato when he was going off about it.

He only knew about the elemental conversion seals and the seal meant for storing said elemental energy. So the Hokage told him about them leaving out the seal on the thunder god technique.

Which was mostly stuff he already knew except for the fact that he could store the elemental energy or even store normal chakra and get a boost off it if he ever running low.

He was a little disappointed the old man could tell him more about the sword but he was told that the old man would get in contact with a seal master.

who could tell him more about it though it may take a few months to a year because the man was out of the country on a very important mission and wouldn't be back for awhile.

Though the blond figured he had enough to work on with the sword as is. Seeing as he couldn't even use a regular one let alone all the seals one the one he has now.

He couldn't help but smile at the thought of mastering his new weapons and having something in common with both his parents. He would have to check out his mothers sword at some other time and see if it had and seals on it as well. He really needed to start practicing as soon as possible.

It was at this time that the Hokage remembered that he had a meeting in fifteen minutes and ushered Naruto out with his new belonging's and a reminder of how important it was to keep this information from others.

Naruto stood in front of the Kage's tower thinking of everything he had just learned. He wanted to learn everything about his mother.

Wanted to know about his mothers family of whirlpool and there home then something jumped out in his mind about his family they were the rulers of whirlpool so wouldn't that like make him a prince of whirlpool or something like that.

He had to take a seat at that thought though it probably wasn't smart to do it in the middle of a busy walk way but he really didn't care at the moment. After coming to his senses he decided he needed to get something for breakfast before he started training with sword and started heading towards the heavenly home of the noodle. Though his thoughts didn't waver far from the information he just found out.


End file.
